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| MARCH 8, 2001-After 63 days in the Mayo Eugenia Litta Children's Hospital (St. Mary's), Sera came home. She weighed just over 4� lbs. In the beginning of Sera's stay in the NICU, her doctors and nurses said that we could expect her to come home home around the time of her original due date (April 4, 2001) but she surprised us by coming home nearly a month early. We had been rooming in at the hospital in a room down the hall from Sera because little by little, I (Angie) was taking over her feedings. No more milk in a tube for Sera! But is was a grueling schedule with feedings every 2 hours around the clock! We were exhausted but we knew the end was near. Sem and I met with a nutritionist that helped us to determine when Sera would be ready for certain foods and we had several videos to watch. Also, a nurse gave us a class on infant CPR--what fun! We were so happy to finally have Sera to ourselves on March 7 and this was the first night we got to spend a night together in the same room and be like a family! Here are a few photos from our special homecoming! |
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| March 8- We made it through our first night with Sera! I don't think Sem and I slept much that night because we just watched our little girl sleep, hardly believing that we were taking her home! This picture was taken in the hospital room shortly before we left and if you look on the table to the right, you can see the monitors that Sera went home on. The doctor told us to use them at our own comfort level which at first was all the time. It was terrifying to make the transition from hospital monitors to nothing at all. It is hard to explain how we leaned on them for comfort! But just as our doctor said, we brought her home and began to really understand Sera and the home monitors lasted only a few days. |
| Sera needed lots of padding in her carseat to give her a snug fit! Here, she is just minutes before leaving the hospital for the first time! You can also see her nasal canula. She was on oxygen and continued to need it until about a month after coming home. The oxygen allowed her to grow faster and at a more optimal rate. |
| March 8- The nurses took a few last minute photos of us as we were about to leave. How exciting! |
| Ahhhhhhhh! Can you see that yawn? She is home and in her own crib! She napped for a few hours while we waited for Semantha and Semuel to come home from school. What an angel! |
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