On Wednesday, we were set to be released from the hospital. Elijah was jaundiced so we were delayed while they checked him out. While we were waiting I took 4 trips to the car and we watched the clock. Finally, Elijah was rolled back in. He wasn't bad enough to keep and we were finally going to be discharged around 2pm. We were finally going home!
Soon after arriving home and bringing in the luggage, we celebrated Dad and Elijah's birthdays with cake and ice cream. The first of many "happy birthday, dear dad-and-Elijah!" The kids had a card for me. The rest of the day kind of blurred together...
We arrived home to a leaf covered yard - in fact, we couldn't even see the driveway. There was a sign hanging on the garage door the kids had made with marker and poster-board (with some guidance from Grandma Marsha, who had been staying with the kids). They obviously did most of it. There was no one around to greet us when we walked in so we figured a surprise greeting was planned. Sure enough, 2 very excited kids jumped out to greet and hug us. There were homemade decorations hanging up. It was so great to see the kids after 3 days! We hugged and made introductions. Both Emma and Elliot were enthralled by their new baby brother. It was a joyous (re)union.
Our first night was a bit rough with Elijah. We didn't get a lot of sleep! We were quickly reminded of the rigors of caring for a newborn. Fortunately, the last two nights he has done much better. He is settling into a good routine of cry, eat, sleep, poop, cry, eat, sleep, poop. The kids have been a little wilder than usual but we kind of expected that. The transition has been challenging but things are working out really well. We are on our way to a new normal.
Elijah checked out well at his first follow up appointment with the pediatrician yesterday and we had a good home visit from a nurse. Nicole is feeling great. We've had a few visitors and have almost lost track of the days. It's Saturday, right? I'll be heading to church in the morning but won't officially be back to work until next Thursday so we'll have a good amount of time to ease back into the real world. But for now, we continue to take advantage of this life-pause to enjoy Elijah and the kids.
Nice work and great pics. I am glad that things
are going well so far! Take care and let us know
if you need anything.