Miss Claire Comes Home!

We are so glad to come home and be a family! After a week of slow progress, the Dr. told me Wednesday morning that I should probably forget his earlier prediction of sending us home toward the end of this week. He laid out a checklist of things Claire needed to accomplish in order for her to get to come home, which he followed by saying, "This would take a miracle. You should probably forget what I said. She is pretty fragile and is showing us she just needs a little more time."

The NICU nurses had been commenting for days at how they were getting hesitant to make predictions with Claire, because when she heard them she did just the opposite just to show them who was in charge. Well, true to form, Claire got to work and made a complete turnaround within 24 hours. She checked everything off Dr. Brown's list: increase her urinary output, put on a little bit of weight, decrease her oxygen level, and lower her bilirubin. We were ecstatic when Dr. Brown gave us the go ahead Thursday to try a day at home and see how she handled it. We and the nurses had to laugh when they started taking off all of her oxygen/heart rate monitors. With each tube and wire that came off, Claire looked a little more pleased with herself. By the time they strapped her into her carseat for one last oxygen test, she looked pleased as punch with herself! I think she knew she was finally going home!

We arrived home Thursday evening. The girls were so happy to have her home. We returned to see Dr. Brown on Friday and are happy to announce Claire passed her check-up with flying colors. She lowered her bilirubin once again and gained an ounce and 1/2. YEAH! She is still on oxygen, but is doing really well. We are so happy to all be together again.

Here's a look back at our very long week: Mom & Dad got to hold Claire for the first time when she was 3 days old. Even though it was only for a few minutes, it made a huge difference for us. It took us a few days to officially give Claire a name. I wasn't really able to see her for the first few days, and so I wanted to be able to really look at her before we named her. When we finally told the nurses that we had chosen a name, they were so excited. When we came to see her a few hours later, they had made little name tags and placed them all over her room. Every machine and monitor had a cute little tag with Claire's name on it! The NICU nurses were incredible. Because of her first scary days, Claire didn't have her first bath until she was 4 days old. I was so excited to be able to help!
Claire had her own nurse most of the week. They were wonderful and made our week so much easier by explaining everything so well. This is Mike, our favorite NICU nurse who was with her most of the week. He was also part of the team who helped keep her alive those first 4-5 hours. He had a great way of explaining things to me so I could understand what was happening. One day when I was so discouraged at how slowly things seemed to be progressing, I asked Mike and Dr. Brown if I should be worried or if I just needed to be patient. Dr. Brown, Claire's incredible pediatrician kindly explained, "Just a few days ago, we had to resuscitate Claire 3 different times. I was really wondering if I'd have to life flight her to Salt Lake in order for her to get better. Now I'm looking at how I can get her home. We just need to give her a little time." Mike then smiled at me and said, "It's a little like watching the grass grow. You can go outside and watch it, but you can't really see it grow. But when Saturday comes, you still have to mow it." Every time I was having a hard time being patient or feeling discouraged, I thought of Mike's analogy.

Keeping with tradition, Courtney went out and bought Claire a going home outfit. She looked pretty darn cute!
We feel so blessed to have Claire. We've seen so many little miracles this past week, and are so thankful. We already can't imagine life without her.