Welcome Home Meghan

Oh my, home sweet home. How amazing it is to be here after 8 days of hospital life...Now for the updates.

On Thursday the Neurosurgeon came in and decided to increase the flow rate on Meghan's shunt. Her fontanelles were still full and her head circumference hadn't changed. The brain US from Friday showed that her ventricles were still the same, but the pressure indices had decreased- a good sign. We travel back to main campus this coming Thursday for another US and an appointment with the Neurosurgeon. This is the first of many many appointments in the upcoming months. We left with a list of follow up appointments with no less than 11 doctors. It is a little intimidating.


Although it was a short time in comparison to what could have been, our NICU days were very long days- emotionally challenging for everyone. I spent a lot of time feeling helpless as I watched them work on my baby. On her last day there alone she endured a brain ultrasound, a heel stick for bilirubin levels, three arterial punctures, a hepatitis B shot, and dilation of her eyes for an eye exam. From a medical perspective I understand everything done was absolutely necessary, but as a mom it is a thousand times different to watch it happen to your child. We knew that this time was coming, but there really wasn't a way to "prepare" for the reality of what happened. I am so glad to be home where Meghan is free of lines, wires, and the constant beeping of alarms! The shunt will always be there, but that is not an option:) That being said, the staff in the NICU at Cleveland Clinic was fantastic. There were many times that I had to leave her in their care, and the way they treated both us as parents and her as their patient made me confident that she was in the most competent and caring of hands. It takes very very special people to do that job. We watched as many other families went through struggles with their newborn babies, and it is a place that I hope no one ever has to be as a parent.

Our first night back wasn't quite the rosy homecoming I had hoped for. We weren't discharged until 6:45pm, putting us home right at bedtime for Addie. Meghan was really fussy still- I'm sure it was from being in pain after her surgery, and cried for 2 hours as soon as we got home. Addie didn't quite know what to make of the situation. To make matters worse, at 3am Addie decided she wasn't quite done with the flu bug she picked up and woke up throwing up, and having diarrhea. Whew. Welcome to mom-of-2-kidsville. Thankfully Grammy came and picked her up the next day to attempt to quarantine the germs, and today she was better and came back home. Meghan was also feeling better today, being post-op day 5, and has been eating and sleeping well. Today we had the windows open, sun shining in, and Addie got to hold her little sister for the first time. It was a good day...

Hopefully now we can settle in to life as a family of 4. Its definitely different, but in so many good ways. How grateful, how thankful to God we are that we are finally home together.

A very special THANK YOU to Maria Sabala Photography for her friendship, and the gift of the top three images above.