s/o homecoming

AlwaysSunny925

How much time did you have to prepare for homecoming?  Meaning, how much advance notice did the neos give you?  Was it like a "he's going home tomorrow!" type of thing, or did they give you a week or two estimate?

Just curious...I know Ryan is getting close to being able to go home.

MommynTeacher

They won't say anything to far in advance because things can change quickly. I was told to bring the car seat in on a Monday and she came home that Friday.

OscarQ

For Kevin we had a big fake out around his due date.  I was told to bring in his car seat and thought he would be going home.  But it took another 5 weeks.

The nurses started talking more about his going home and the neos talked me through what would happen after discharge.  Then they set up training (CPR and monitor training).  And of course, I had to bring the car seat back in.

When it finally got down to the week of his discharge, we were kind of being jerked around.  So the nurses told us to request a "Family Meeting".  At our NICU that was a big sitdown meeting with his neos, primary nurses, therapists, the social worker, etc.  I requested that on a Monday night, then worked in my NY office the next day (and had my work shower).  I came out of a meeting to a message from his NNP asking me why I wanted a Family Meeting since Kevin was being discharged on Thursday.

So in a way we were given tons of notice and in a way it was, boom, your baby is leaving here in two days.

tkhrabs313

We were on a brady count, so we knew as soon as he made it the 5 days without a brady he was going home.  I found that different people in the NICU handled it differently.  The neo never really said much about going home, the NP was talking about how excited she was for us to go home soon and some of the nurses would comment on how we were getting close, but warned us about getting our hopes up.

This probably didn't really answer your question, but T&Ps that he comes home soon!

adrielegorburu

We were worried it would be a "shes going home tomorrow" thing because thats what happened to the babies in the room next to ours - twins that got 1 day notice - I remember talking to the mom who was hysterical crying of happiness and freak out because of the short notice. We had about a weeks lead up, car seat test and prescriptions (we had to fill them and bring them in for Pharmacy training) We also "requested" that she come home on July 4th, that way DH didnt have to take another day off of work. I already had been rushing to get the house ready for two weeks or so -

BritanyV

We got 2 days notice. 

jacque_z

We were told on Sunday that "she might go home this week".  Then on Wednesday the doctor stopped all her meds and she came home on Friday.  I took off work on Thursday and scrambled around town like a maniac getting the stuff together that we needed to bring her home.   

AlwaysSunny925

OscarQ:

For Kevin we had a big fake out around his due date.  I was told to bring in his car seat and thought he would be going home.  But it took another 5 weeks.

The nurses started talking more about his going home and the neos talked me through what would happen after discharge.  Then they set up training (CPR and monitor training).  And of course, I had to bring the car seat back in.

When it finally got down to the week of his discharge, we were kind of being jerked around.  So the nurses told us to request a "Family Meeting".  At our NICU that was a big sitdown meeting with his neos, primary nurses, therapists, the social worker, etc.  I requested that on a Monday night, then worked in my NY office the next day (and had my work shower).  I came out of a meeting to a message from his NNP asking me why I wanted a Family Meeting since Kevin was being discharged on Thursday.

So in a way we were given tons of notice and in a way it was, boom, your baby is leaving here in two days.

Wow, that must have been so disappointing to have to stay another 5 weeks after being told you're going home...what happened that caused the delay?

AlwaysSunny925

jacque_z:

We were told on Sunday that "she might go home this week".  Then on Wednesday the doctor stopped all her meds and she came home on Friday.  I took off work on Thursday and scrambled around town like a maniac getting the stuff together that we needed to bring her home.   

 This is exactly what I'd like to avoid

 

njdcgirl

We also had "Two rounds" of potential discharge dates.

The first time, as we knew he was getting closer (less desats/more bottle feeds/all immunizations done) we asked the Neo about timeline and had planned it out together.  We talked on a Sat, and were shooting for a Thursday.  That week, DS had his final appts (consults for hernia surgery, hearing test, developmental specialist consult, etc.) and we had some trianing (CPR, oxygen, monitor.)  That week was a bit hectic, but we would have had five days notice.

Unfortunately, DS had a big set back (NEC scare) that bought him another three weeks, and a trip back to the intensive unit from the step down unit. :-(

The second go-round, once we knew he was responding well to the antibiotics, was to just wait them out and then to re-build up his feeds.  So, we knew approximately how long that would take, pending that everything went well - which it did.  So, that time it felt like we had several weeks notice.  [Silver lining from his extended stay was that they were able to wean him off oxygen so he didn't have to come home on O2, or a monitor!  That was a huge plus].

Very exciting that Ryan may be going home soon!!

thatgirlwren

The Drs and NP were very quiet about a discharge date during DS stay, and kept saying "expect it to be near his adjusted due date".  During our stay we heard some parents getting the news that they were ready for discharge a day in advance and we had some concern about that.  We were assured by nurses that they would give us a couple of days notice.  We were whittling down his discharge checklist and he was passing everything with flying colors.  So we had an inkling he was close.  However, we walked in one morning after shift change and they said DS was ready to graduate!  We took him home that a.m. after running around like half-crazed chickens.  It was the scariest and most exhilarating day.

 It is so wonderful to bring them home.  Good luck.

Belleza907

We had a lot of notice, and no notice at the same time! With Gina, we had about a week's notice.  They told us on a Tuesday that she would probably be home the following Monday. The drs told us that Emma would have to stay about a week longer than Gina because she was having trouble taking full feeds by bottle. All of a sudden the Thursday before Gina's discharge, Emma picked up the pace and started taking full feeds.  That Friday night, she pulled out her own feeding tube, so they decided to see if she could maintain/gain without the feeding tube being put back in.  Sunday morning they told us Emma would be coming home Monday too!

OscarQ

jnatkaniec:

OscarQ:

For Kevin we had a big fake out around his due date.  I was told to bring in his car seat and thought he would be going home.  But it took another 5 weeks.

Wow, that must have been so disappointing to have to stay another 5 weeks after being told you're going home...what happened that caused the delay?

He started having reflux issues so they wanted to make sure he was gaining weight properly and then they had a hard time weaning his O2 (he was on high flow).  We expected him to come home on O2 but the reflux thing made them nervous.

They were actually being super cautious because of a sad situation that happened the month before - a baby died when they were doing the weaning to home settings thing.  He was a refluxer too and aspirated into his lungs and just couldn't be saved.  Tragic and sad - and it made everyone in our NICU overly cautious.

I don't write that to scare you.  But I also don't want to sugarcoat the reasons why Kevin was delayed - it had nothing to do with Kevin really.

AlwaysSunny925

OscarQ:

jnatkaniec:

OscarQ:

For Kevin we had a big fake out around his due date.  I was told to bring in his car seat and thought he would be going home.  But it took another 5 weeks.

Wow, that must have been so disappointing to have to stay another 5 weeks after being told you're going home...what happened that caused the delay?

He started having reflux issues so they wanted to make sure he was gaining weight properly and then they had a hard time weaning his O2 (he was on high flow).  We expected him to come home on O2 but the reflux thing made them nervous.

They were actually being super cautious because of a sad situation that happened the month before - a baby died when they were doing the weaning to home settings thing.  He was a refluxer too and aspirated into his lungs and just couldn't be saved.  Tragic and sad - and it made everyone in our NICU overly cautious.

I don't write that to scare you.  But I also don't want to sugarcoat the reasons why Kevin was delayed - it had nothing to do with Kevin really.

Double wow...better to be overly cautious than to risk something like that happening again. 

kitkat145

I asked during rounds on Thursday when they thought she could go home, the doctor said they'd let the weekend neos decide.  On Friday, the neo said as long as she had a good night, they'd discharge on Saturday.  I was a nervous wreck and called at least three times overnight.  Luckily, she did great and came home.

hunt2005

Baby A: Joking with them, said it seemed like it could be soon because he was taking feeds so well, they said maybe as early as Thursday (this was Mon). A doc came Tues morning to do the circ (normally done day of discharge). I started freaking out as we didn't think it was happening yet. Turns out it was a mistake, but since his circ was already done they did the carseat test that day and sent him home the next.

Baby B: Told on Friday to bring carseat in, came home Saturday morning.

Baby C: I had to room in for two nights because she would nurse fine, but sleep through bottle feeds. She still wasn't gaining weight too well, but they didn't want me sleeping at the hospital nursing round the clock anymore, so they let her go home with a weight check two days later. She had gained 6 ounces, so that was the end of that

bhilyer

You've gotten a lot of response, but I thought I would offer my experience as well.

Our NICU had a strict 5 day countdown.  The boys had to go 5 days without any As, Bs and Ds.  We were informed when the countdown started.  JS made it to Day 4 the first time.  Then to Day 2, then Day 3...on his 4th round he finally made it 5 days successfully. 

Hilyer was a little different since his feeding is what kept him there for so long.  Plus he was coming home on O2, so the Ds were out the window.

 

So exciting that he's close to coming home