Eek! I'm not ready!

Kadyra

Yesterday, ds2's NG tube came out. Today the neo told me that unless he has a terrible night tonight, he will go home tomorrow.

!

That's the only way I can express it. I'm super excited, but I also have no idea what to do before he arrives. We could not make arrangements for ds1 in time to nest. I know his feeding "schedule" and I know how much earlier he eats when BFing. We have his 4lb carseat and are crossing our fingers he'll pass the test. We have the Enfacare. We have our pnp and have borrowed an rnp from a friend. We have preemie diapers and clothes.

So.... I just have no idea what to do for him when he arrives. I thought we'd have more time. Did you guys have your LO's sleep in your rooms in the rnp? Crib in their room? Did you try to keep them on their feeding schedule or did you feed on demand? What happened at your first visit with your pedi? How did you handle your older kids? Visitors?

Ds1's homecoming was fairly routine even though he was a 36 weeker. So I just don't know how differently we should treat ds2. Plus you get that pregnancy and postpartum amnesia, so I'm not even sure exactly what I did! We took the discharge class, but there's so much it didn't cover...

Am I overreacting? Probably. I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. TIA.

WannaBAmama

You are over reacting but I did too. I got in the biggest fight with my DH the night before LO came home because I wanted everything perfect floors washed, house spotless, pack n play and bassinet all set up, his room cleaned. It was even more stressful because he came home on big brothers third birthday we had plans with him that day. Everything ended up being fine ; I wouldn't say it was much different at all than bringing home my first LO.
I have one of those arms reach co sleepers and a rock n play in our room. He sleeps better in the rnp so I usually start him in the co sleeper and if he's fed, changed and doesn't need anything but is fussy in that in the middle of the night I'll switch him to the rnp and he sleeps more of a deep sleep.
LO naturally stayed on his nicu feeding schedule for about a month and then it changed. He still eats every 3 hours, it's just not his nicu schedule. First visit to the pedi was just like first visit with LO. We were a little more cautious though. My husband went and checked us in and waited in the waiting room and I waited out in the car with LO until the nurse called him back do he didn't have to be in the germy waiting room.
LO coming home was the first time our other son met his brother since he is three he wasn't allowed to go into the nicu. He loved his brother from their first meeting : it was an easy transition from one kid to two in our house. I was expecting it to be difficult but it's been great.
Oh and for visitors everyone wanted to come right away but we restricted it to just the grandparents and I let one of my brothers and his family sneak over ; for the first two weeks. After that everyone kinda came over individually on their own time. I loved that! I hated being bombarded with visitors with my first LO. Everyone is trying to get acclimated at home and there were constantly people wanting to come over. We let my parents be the bad guys and tell everyone were not letting anyone come over for a few weeks so it was a really smooth, relaxing transition for our family.
Good luck tomorrow. It'll be fine!!
Sorry for my rambling and any typos. I'm bumping on my phone during a 4am feeding lol

Kadyra

Thanks ladies. DH told me I was being stupid. Then this morning, he freaked out and tried to pack the diaper bag. I had packed it last night. And then he says to me, "I felt more ready when we brought ds1 home last time than I do right now." So much for stupid!

And he's home. I have no idea what I was stressing about. You lose control of your life the moment you get a bfp. It only gets worse when baby comes home. He's already off his NICU feeding schedule. We're going to play it by ear with everything else. And invest in Purell.