We're home! Micah was discharged from Children's Hospital in Saint Louis on December 23.
Micah spent a total of 10 days in the NICU. When he was born, the doctors thought he had an infection because he was not eating nearly enough. We later found out he did not have an infection, but a feeding tube did need to be inserted to help him maintain his weight and get the nutrition he needed.
Three days after birth, he started retaining so much water that his sodium levels had dropped to a point where he could be having seizures or other brain injuries. The NICU team at the hospital where he was born decided to have him transferred to Children's Hospital in Saint Louis as he needed a higher level of care.
Within a couple hours after arriving, Micah was able to lose all of the water weight! His kidneys had finally caught up! He was no longer swollen. The doctors at Children's took precautions and did a brain ultrasound to make sure everything was ok- and it is! After being in Children's for 12 hours, Micah was placed on oxygen due to some low intake numbers.
After two days, Micah decided that he was REALLY hungry and the feeding tube was removed. He is on a "eat whenever and however much he wants" schedule, which means there is no feeding or sleeping schedule whatsoever. He will now eat a full bottle every 2-4 hours.
Since Micah was eating well and gaining weight, the only thing keeping us at the hospital was the oxygen intake. A couple of nurses brought up the idea that we could go home by Christmas if we were comfortable with in home health care. After a quick training on having oxygen at home and signing a bunch of papers, we were discharged on December 23, just in time for Christmas.
Evelyn has taken on the role of big sister well. She helps get diapers, throws dirty ones away, brings the bottle, helps *gently* pat him on the back to burp him, and gives him sweet kisses.
Please continue to pray for Micah to gain weight. The doctors believe that weight gain and time will help his lungs develop to the point where oxygen support is no longer needed.
We are so grateful for every single doctor and nurse that helped and supported Micah. Both hospitals provided him with the best care possible. Thank you to Dr. Reddy, Dr. Liao, and all the doctors completing their fellowship who helped care for Micah. Thank you to all the nurses we had who not just cared for Micah, but checked in on Alex and I- Gail, Cheryl, Mary, Kate, Katie, Colette, Ashley, Nicole, Kierra, etc. There's so many of you and we're so grateful for all of you.
