3.05.06: home, but not happy

By noon, Mason was discharged and home. There's a lot of moanin', groanin' and coughin' going on. If it's anything like the last two nights, he will wake up several times tonight, so I'm going to head to bed sooner than usual and finish this update tomorrow.

At least he's home!! Now we just have to get him back to the Mason we know.

(3.06.06)

As suspected, Mason woke quite often last night ... at least once an hour. He received two breathing treatments during the course of the night, which helped calm him quite a bit. Yesterday, he was needing breathing treatments at least every 4 hours, but today we were able to spread them out a little more.

Mason is on a steroid, so that is affecting his mood a little bit, but given everything he's been going through, he's actually being a pretty good sport. He definitely seems happy to be home. For the most part, he just wants to cuddle. He's asking to be picked up more and he's not crawling around or playing with his toys much at all.

He still found plenty of energy to splash around in the bathtub last night (his favorite activity) and tonight, he gave us his first recognizable Baby Sign ... of course, it was for "all done!"

Mason's appetite is gradually coming back, too. He had only 11 ounces yesterday, but over 20 today and even some vegetables.

So, ... it looks like we will probably have our active and cheerful Mason back before too long. We were told to expect him to cough for a couple of weeks. Otherwise, we just need to watch out for any signs that he might have contracted something else while at the hospital. With RSV all over the pediatric floor, they often see little patients discharged for one thing and then back in there with RSV. Wouldn't that be just lovely. Let's hope that nasty, evil, painful, monthly Synagis shot the boys are receiving is actually working.

Avery continues to be happy and healthy, with no signs of something lurking. Whew!

Around the time Mason and Avery were discharged from the NICU, I remember reading somewhere that the odds of a micropreemie being readmitted to the hospital for illness during the first year (or maybe, the first winter?) were greater than 50%. I really thought we could beat those odds. We almost made it. And who would have thought it would be Mason? We really try to be very careful, but it seems like with all the medical offices we are in on a weekly basis, completely avoiding germs is nearly impossible. At least as these little guys continue to mature, they will soon have much more strength to battle off the bugs.

I still have so much more to post about how Mason and Avery are developing and all the great news they are receiving from their specialists. I know I keep promising a detailed update, yet still haven't delivered. Soon! I promise! Really.