Meghan Home 2 Years

On Sunday, we will have had Meghan at home with us for 2 full years. Wow, the time has flown by, but we are still dealing with former micropreemie issues such as PT, weight gain, and sensory issues. Anyway, I'm so proud of my peanut girl and how far she really has come. Here is my journal entry from 2 years ago. Just thought I'd share... JEN

On Friday July 23rd, Meghan was down 10 grams to reach 2090, which is 4 pounds, 9.75 ounces. They also measured her height, which was 17 3/4 inches long. Those were her official discharge statistics. Yay! Meghan is home with us, but before I cover that subject, I'll cover a little of the discharge process...

Charlie and I raced over to the hospital after lunch to meet with the monitor company. It was pretty much just a review for us since it was the same monitor that Grace used just 2 short years ago. After that, Charlie and I hung out with Meg's daytime primary nurse, Debbie Cieslak. She filled us in on specific recommendations that Doctor Ragatz had made. After that, we attended infant CPR class. It was just Charlie and me in the class so that was nice. Finally, after CPR, we met with the dietician who had been monitoring Meg's food intake since birth. She sent Meghan home on breast milk fortified with 22-cal Neosure formula. We learned how to mix the milk and powdered formula.

After that, it was past 3:30pm so Meg's other primary nurse, Kate Kirchner, joined us to do the rest of the discharge. Both Charlie and I hugged nurse Debbie goodbye when her shift ended. Doctor Ragatz came by shortly after that, and hugged me goodbye, too. That meant a lot. Nurse Kate looked Meghan over one more time, before handing her to me. We put her in the car seat and bundled rolled up blankets all around her. It was a proud moment for all of us. I can't tell you how long we've waited for this...but really I can, it was 79 days! Anyway, we quietly left the NICU with nurse Kate escorting us to the parking lot. She wished us well, and we took our peanut girl home. Grandma Kathy and Grandpa John watched Gracie while we were at the hospital. Gracie met Meghan on the sidewalk and promptly asked to hold her. It was so cute!

We all settled in at home, and prepared for a restless night. Meghan was a bit disoriented by her new non-hospital surroundings, but did well overall. She woke us 2 times that night. Boy! I forgot what it feels like to be "that" tired. She is up every 3-4 hours to eat, and she lets you know when she is hungry.

To wrap this all up...

Meghan came a long way from 715 grams at her lowest point, shortly after birth, to reach 2090 grams. She fought a long, hard, uphill battle, and we are so thankful to have her in our lives. Not all babies make it out of NICU, and I thank God every time I look at her. She truly is a living, breathing miracle, and I will never forget the staff at St. J*****'s for helping our family through the process. We are blessed to have such a well-reknowned and honored NICU just 5 minutes from our home.

Finally, I must thank each and every one of you who prayed for us, helped us, or just plain cared about what was happening to our family. Words cannot express our gratitude and forever loyalty to you all. We only hope that we can someday, somehow repay you all. It meant the world to us. When tragedy strikes, you really find out how many people care for and love you. Your collective voices and prayers worked to help Meghan fight her battle to live a long and healthy life.

So with all of that said, I want you to know that I will periodically update this web site to keep you all informed of her continued progress. Eventually, I'll be printing this journal out and commemorating it for Meghan to read when she is older.

Thanks again for all of your caring and support.

Proud Mom Jen, Dad Charlie, Big Sis-Sis Kesa, Little Miss Gracie, and the Peanut Girl Meghan Rose!