The Babe is Home

He is home. I spent the entire afternoon, evening and into the night visiting this little guy. I fed him, bathed him, changed him and photographed him. I love this picture the best.

My daughter Juli met me at Amy and Josh's, to gift Amy, with a total cleaning and reorganization of her entire house. Room by room we cleaned, organized and revamped. She was ecstatic. It was a fun day, and as tired as I was by the time I came home ... I just felt so good.

The highlight of all this was putting the finishing touches on Carter's room. His room is "classic pooh" and painted in Khaki and Sage. We decorated the walls and went through all the tiny little preemie clothes and baby things. We "toted" up by size, and arranged everything for her, so that all she has to do is take down one tote a time. Completely organized ... in a very pretty nursery for a very precious baby named Carter Joe.

I had saved everything from my babies in case another Grandchild came along .... and Carter happened to be the winner! As Juli said, "Wow Mom! Carter scored!"

Luke, who is three, was loving his baby brother being home. As was Buddy ... the dog. He "slept" on guard at the feet of whoever held Carter.

Then, during his 7:00PM feeding ... Juli was holding him and giving him his bottle, and he suddenly stopped breathing. I noticed the odd look on Juli's face from across the room as she was watching him. She calmly said, "Mom, is he okay?" I ran over there and took him from her. He was completely apneic. Not breathing. It's funny, it doesn't matter how long you've been a Nurse, or how much experience you have ... when something like this happens, and especially to your own child, you forget everything you know for a split second. I never thought I'd have to resuscitate my own grandchild. Just as I was about to start giving him breaths, he sputtered and started breathing again.

Of course, I called the Neonatologist in the NICU he had just come from. He felt sure that it was an isolated event due to gulping too much too fast and gave instructions to watch him for a couple more feedings, and keep him upright for about thirty minutes after each feeding. Or if he did it again, he would put him back in the hospital for a bit longer. We watched him, and he's perfectly okay. Let's just pray that he doesn't do it again. My heart can't take it.

Whew! Carter is okay. It was very scary ... and I got home in the wee hours of the morning. So today, I'm Mommy again, until the next visit with this little man that I love so much ... and his big brother Luke.

Be Blessed Everyone.