3/4 of the Bales' are Home!

Yesterday was a big day.  Joshua's big event was getting weaned off his CPAP in the morning.  For about an hour, he was doing well on nothing for supplemental oxygen.  Then he started to show that he was needing to work a little harder to breathe, so they put him on a nasal cannula (just a little clear tube under his nose to give him a little extra oxygen).  He did well on that throughout the day.  It's so nice to be able to see his face now, without that big mask and tube in the way!  When they first took the CPAP mask off, he furrowed his eyebrows exactly like James does when he's annoyed. I thought it was funny. 

I think Joshua is going to look like Jeremiah.  He has the same big eyes that are so alert, and he reminds me of how Jeremiah looked as a newborn.  He also has James' and Jeremiah's feet.  They are so tiny, but they are still long like flippers with a big space between the big toe and second toe.  Other than the eyes and feet, it's hard to tell what he's going to look like because he still has a lot of filling out to do.

Joshua's follow up bilirubin level was the same, so they want to keep him on phototherapy for another day.  It's good that it's not still trending up.  They put him on a new bed, so the lights shine from underneath him instead of above him, and he seems to like that a lot better.  His face does look a little jaundiced, but I think the rest of his color is improving.

For me, the main event was getting discharged from the hospital.  It was really hard to leave Joshua, and I already miss walking over to see him in the NICU whenever I want to at any time during the night.  Driving away, it was bittersweet.  I have to admit it was nice to walk to the car and then ride fully upright without having the seat pushed back and reclined with my feet on the dashboard.  We were excited to head home, but we were leaving a quarter of our family in the hospital, so we were sad.  It's hard to leave your child in the hands of others, especially when he is so helpless, but we know he's getting the best care.  Hopefully the next 8-10 weeks will go quickly. 

Arriving home was a big moment.  My mom and dad made our house immaculate, which was so nice.  The best part was having Jeremiah so excited to have us home.  The last time I came home from the hospital, he ignored me at first and only wanted to be with my mom, but he wanted me right away this time.  He had so much fun with his cousins the past two days, and he was trying to tell me all about it in his limited language.  "Slide!  Up up up, doooowwwwwwnnnnnn!"  "Outside!"  "Grandpa Bob!"  "Luke!  Jack!"  So precious.  When we realized the baby was coming on Thursday night, James' brother John immediately hit the road to come pick Jeremiah up, and that started the adventure of going to "Jack's house!" and then Grandpa Bob and Karen's house for a few days.  They were so wonderful for taking such great care of him while allowing us to focus all of our energy on Joshua for a few days.  Jeremiah had a blast!  He's still talking about going "ni-night at Grandpa's house." 

Here's a short video Jeremiah's Uncle John and Aunt Holly took of Jeremiah opening up his birthday present from Jack the night Joshua was born.

Jeremiah playing in the fort he built with Grandpa Gus last week.