Coming Home

After less than 36 hours at the hospital, we were discharged Sunday evening to bring Lauren home with us.  Lauren lost about 5% of her weight and was down to 6lbs, 11oz by the time she was 24 hours old, but that is to be expected.  The pediatrician was in yesterday to check her out and said he'd actually be fine if she was down to 6lbs, 8oz by the time we go in for our check-up on Thursday.  She's nursing really well and we're getting plenty of diapers to change, so we're not concerned.

Jon and Hannah had stopped in this morning with my mom on the way to church.....Hannah was so excited to see her sister again and kept asking me when we were bringing her home.  We made it home around 5pm -- here are some pictures.

Leaving the hospital with your baby - what a novel concept!

It was so great to be put in a wheelchair with my little girl all bundled up in her carseat ready to go home.  When I left the hospital after having Hannah, I was carrying a teddy bear and flowers.....and certainly wasn't smiling.  This departure was the "normal" way to do things, and I really like "normal."

When we got home, Hannah was so excited to check out her sister!

Hannah did pause to give me a hug, but when she came running to the door when Jon and I got home, she was only asking about "my sister" and not "mommy".....I clearly have been replaced as her favorite (well, and I was only sometimes the favorite ahead of Abby to begin with!).



My cousin, Susan, and my Aunt Patty showed up just a few minutes after we got home from the hospital.  You see, since I was to be induced tomorrow, Susan had planned to come Sunday evening and then be with me in the hospital all day Monday and then head home on Tuesday morning.  In fact, Susan had even re-arranged all of her patients (she's a physician's assistant at an OB/GYN office) on her Monday schedule so she could have the day off to be with me.  She was there for Hannah's birth and was just so helpful and nurturing (plus she has medical knowledge - always a plus!) that I had been crossing my fingers that it would work for her to be there for this birth.  When I was on the phone with Susan on Friday night, she was actually contemplating getting in the car and driving over, assuming I'd deliver on Saturday at some point.  Ultimately, Lauren came a little too fast (and even if Susan jumped in the car as soon as we got off the phone Friday night, she still wouldn't have made it for the birth), but since Susan already had the day off and my Aunt doesn't work on Mondays, they made a quick trip out to meet Lauren...and brought a cake with them!