Our First Week Home

The first week home was very joyous for us. It was so nice to have her in our arms, unhooked from wires, monitors and IV. Elena was released from the NICU with some reservation from the doctor. He was concerned that her bilirubin counts would relapse and go up again. We were so happy he finally released her since we had a pediatrician appointment on Monday. And Elena's bilirubin count had gone up a little bit, but the pediatrician felt confident that we were passing from high bilirubin counts due to the break down of her bruises and into breast milk bilirubin. This was a good sign the bilirubin counts had peaked and would soon dissipate to a low risk.



A wave of relief came over us when we heard this news. We were so happy to have received a clean bill of health finally.

The first couple of weeks, Elena primarily slept. She would sleep so long, I would have to wake her for a feeding and attempt to keep her awake during the feeding. Fortunately we haven't had any problems with weight gain. At 13 days old she passed her birth weight of 7lbs 3oz and weighed in at 7lbs 9.7oz. By 24 days old she weighed 8lbs 13.1oz.

She is such a content baby and just loves to be held and cuddled. At night she sleeps swaddled in her crib between feedings. Noise during the day does not seem to bother her. I suppose she is used to all the noise from the NICU: babies crying, nurses and doctors talking and parents coming in and out.

During the first couple of weeks, Elena pretty much kept her eyes shut. When she did try opening them, she would squint. Her facial expression would make me think the light hurt her eyes.

Here is Elena in a rare photo with her eyes open.

A comment we heard often about Elena were how big her feet were. This is a good picture of her foot size relative to her body size. Long slender feet, oh my!