Day 81 – Stranger At Home

I’m almost at a loss for words. Today we cleaned, coordinated, talked, learned, worried, and packed! At 7am this morning our nurse called to tell us that not only had Tess passed her stage 4 eating, she’d surpassed it – going way beyond the minimum. So they released her. It was that fast. She was packed up and shipped out by 11am, and we were stalling. Frantic packing, signing, calling, alerting all the nurses, and packing the car (wish we had a before and after! Crazy what you can fit in here.).

Huge thanks to Aly. She had us so, so organized when we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. At one point, she handed me a piece of paper with instructions to get Tess to the eye dr this week. No problem I told her. She said, “put the number in your phone.” “It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll remember.” Um, looking at this jammed car, let me tell you how happy I am that she did that. I hope we can find toothbrushes and underwear!

Kat, Spencer and Micky came to say goodbye at the house. They were as shocked as we were! Micky held her for the first time, and we all did quite a bit of crying. They are amazing, and as we hugged goodbye the incredible choice they made struck me anew.

We got to see Sara too, and put the poor girl to work! She babysat for a while while we coordinated the clown car. We of course left during the pride parade – the one time we couldn’t see Denise and Beth. Sad!

Then, we left. I’m writing this on the way to Wyoming. Tess is tucked in next to me, with dad at the wheel. And suddenly, it’s like those 81 days magically vanished. Here we are, taking our baby home from the hospital. It’s just a longer trip than usual.

6:30pm
It’s our first break. Tess has rocked it out, sleeping most of the time and popping an eye open from time to time. We’re in Evanston Wyoming; don’t come here. We’re feeding Tess in the car, so when she spit up it went all over me and her. Let the true, messy parenting begin!

Tess has had 2 smaller bottles today, and is finishing up a HUGE bottle, so her appetite caught up with her. 88 ml! For comparison, she normally took 48 before yesterday. Wow. So they weren’t kidding when they said it would just click!

10:45pm
Tess made it through the day like this was nothing new or exciting. In other words, she slept. She also ate, though! She’s over the minimum so far, so hopefully she’ll keep it up. We want her to ace her first weigh-in. 🙂 Dave and I are so tired, and the thought of getting up with her in 3 hours is weird! Weird and awesome. It’s really just us here for a few days. We’ll keep you posted!

19 thoughts on “Day 81”

You go Tess!!!! Have a safe trip home! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Wow! I can say I was quite surprised by your post. Congratulations. Also Tess way to go initiating mom into parenting the right (messy) way. You three have been an inspiration and now the true fun begins. Safe travels.

We are beyond excited for you guys!!! Safe travels back home 🙂

Happy tears! Such an exciting update:) Safe travels, and enjoy it.

Such great news to wake up to! And what a great surprise! Bon Voyage. Happy trails! Have a safe journey. You’ll be fine with the nighttime cares. You are just adding an extra feeding or two. And maybe a change of clothes, and… another bottle, …. and a change of clo….ZZZ… :D. Love you all. Rose

Wow the day finally came. I told you it would come fast once it happened. I just looked through all your pictures and it brought tears to my eyes. I am so sad I didn’t get to give you a hug goodbye but plan on seeing you soon! Give Tess a kiss from me. Love you guys!!!!

Mags says:

June 4, 2012 at 9:41 am

Well its about time you got on here! It’s weird without you guys.

Reply

Safe travels Maggie, Dave, and Tess! We will be home in a few weeks; cannot wait to see you! 🙂
Love,
Jeff and Abbie

Mein Brief fÃ¼r euch ist beim letzten Bild. Ich hoffe ihr findet ihn. Ich habe erst jetzt gesehen, dass ich wieder an der falschen Stelle geschrieben habe.

Safe travels!! Wow that all happened so quickly!!! Lots of love to you guys!

PS: Who won the baby pool? Hahaha I had said June 4, so one day off….

Mouth hanging open…!!!!!!!

Congratulations!!!!!! Safe travels home!

Wow, this is truly AMAZING!!! I’m … speechless! Kept having to wipe tears out of my eyes to see the pictures today. So very happy for you! Safe travels; try to relax and enjoy the trip!