July 10-13

Discharged!!

What a handful of days it has been. Apparently Rachel and I were doing "A" work at the hospital, and they kept their word on discharging Steele on Friday evening around 7:20. There was a solid stream of people from 7am-7pm about medical equipment, lab results, immunizations, more lab results, equipment training, and finally the discharge papers. I honestly did not know if he was coming home with us until we loaded him and his oxygen tank into the car and drove away from OHSU. It was a feeling of relief and anxiety that I have not experienced until now. I had to make 3 trips to my car with all his new "toys" from the hospital. The day was a giant blur, part of the discharge protocol require the parent(s) to care for the patient for a minimum of 24 hours. Steele's feeding schedule is every three hours. You will be up and up and up again. I really felt like a patient and a parent while this transition happened. I am so thankful that we were put to the test. There is a lot that happens at night that I did not know.

After two hours of sleep, we were awakened by Steele's cry over the last blood endocrine stress test lab. Unfortunately, cardio patients with his condition tend to have blood vessels that are not easy to find with a needle. Two nurses and the Doctor on call that morning could not get the vein that they wanted. I am glad they stopped after 20 minutes of hearing Steele's cries. Granted, this child cries when you change his diaper, but the sound of stress does not leave a good taste in your mouth. Now, it was up to our Case Manager to handle the rest of the "discharge train" formalities. Rachel and I stuck close to his side, while learning the ropes of his care. I remember Ryleigh was on the same feeding schedule, but with much less medication and no oxygen assistance. It was determined that Steele would be going home with oxygen.

Hours passed and all the sudden it was 5pm, Rachel and I were finally ready to have our last meal in a hospital room with our new son. We had a celebatory H20 clink of our waterbottles and digested our food while wating for the final paperwork. The nurse came in and began unraviling the black and white to Rachel while I did the 6pm feed and tranistion to Steele's car seat. Steele was required to sit while buckled up and oxygen tank flowing in his car seat for 90 minutes while mainting a blood sat rate of 75% or higher the entire time. He passed with flying colors. I had the safety staff inspect my jingus climber dude seat belt job in the Subaru. The safety inspector laughed and commented something like "....what were your goals here?" She helped me correct my brilliant design and signed off on the inspection.

Time to go up and get Steele, Rachel and all the final belonings and get out of OHSU. Here are the pics:

Rachel & Steele just moments before the final dischage

I never though they were going to let us out of there, but they did!

We arrived home, got settled and began to move him into his new room. Rachel and I were exhausted. We continued the feeding cycle of every 3 hours. I was scheduled to attend a CrossFit competiton on Saturday morning all day. Rachel handleled it like a champ, while I was getting my butt kicked in SW Beaverton. I was so happy when I got home and finally spent some time with Steele and Rachel.

I have forgotten so quickly how these first few weeks of caring for a baby can turn you into a zombie. I began the task of finding all the baby gear that has been buried in our basement for the last 4.5 years. Clean it, air it out and safety checks. Still don't know where that damn Lamb Swing went?? 

Now, I am on a plane to Columbia, South Carolina to spend a couple of days with Rachel's side of our family. The puzzle pieces are starting to make that final journey to the masterpiece we call life. Thanks again for all the support, food, and hugs that have been shared throughout the past three weeks.

Steele will be 1 month old on July 14, 2015. He sure has had one heck of a ride thus far.