After six long weeks in hospital (five in the Lister, Stevenage and one in the QE2, Welwyn Garden City) the doctors finally allowed Amelie to come home. January 29 2010 is a date that will be forever etched on my brain! She had only been bottle feeding properly for two days when we brought her home so it was a bit scary. They do allow babies with tubes to be taken home but we wanted to avoid this at all costs. Amelie hated her tube and was always trying to pull it out. Also, as her feeds got bigger, tube feeding became more and more uncomfortable for her. Looking back I think this was the start of her reflux, more on that later.
So, on January 28 Rahul and I 'roomed in' at the hospital. The nurses recommend that parents stay the final night in hospital with their baby so that they can get used to having a baby and also ask any questions that might crop up in the middle of the night! The hospital had a room just off the main neo natal ward for this. It was the most uncomfortable nights sleep I've had since backpacking around the world about 15 years ago! We had to sleep in single camp beds under a window which we couldn't shut. It was freezing! Also, Amelie made the strangest noises in her sleep - lots of groans, grunts, squeals and squeaks! Apparently all prem babies make these noises and nobody can explain why! It was a very odd night. Also, the unit was very busy that night with a few emergency admissions. I was glad that we couldn't see what was going on.
The next morning the nurses showed me how to bathe Amelie and gave me some basic advice on "what to do if.." and that was it. We were free to go! She looked so tiny in the car seat and we were really quite worried about taking her out into the cold. We literally sprinted to the car!
I can't really remember that first night now (or week really) but I do remember feeling totally overwhelmed and a little bit scared. Now we were in charge. No more nurses to ask for advice. Cripes!
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