After Nathaniel was born, he had a slight fever. The doctors don't treat an infant's post-birth fever unless it's over 100.3; Nathaniel's was 100.4, so he was put on precautionary anti-biotics for 48 hours. When he was about a day old, he began to develop jaundice. This is a very common problem in infants, especially infants who are born early. The jaundice treatment simply meant that Nate had to spend 24 hours under a special light to help break down the biliruben in his bloodstream.
I knew that this wasn't a "big deal" for newborn babies, but it was a big deal to me. For an entire day in the hospital, I was only allowed to hold my baby for a half an hour every four hours (to feed him). Visitors were stopping by to see the new baby, and we had no baby to show them. I think that it was during this day that I realized just how much this tiny baby that I barely knew already meant to me! We had been as close as physically possible for months, and suddenly, not only were we no longer physically connected--but we were separated by space and hospital regulations. I missed him tremendously, and was miserable without him. Thankfully, Nathaniel did not seem to be nearly as upset as I was--he enjoyed his second day lounging under a warm light where nobody from this big, new world bothered him.
After staying at the hospital for an extra night so that Nathaniel could finish his treatments, we were finally released to come home on Saturday, August 21 at 7 pm. We packed up our bags, and eagerly picked up our baby from the nursery. Nathaniel's new car seat made him look even tinier than his 6 and a half pounds!
Our ride home was uneventful, and we entered our house as a new family of three. Nate was unimpressed with his new home, instead choosing to sleep through his tour. Smudgie and Beans (our cats), on the other hand, were very interested in the new guy...
Welcome home, Nathaniel! We love having you here, and cannot wait to show you more about life around this place!
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