OT Update on Deb_M and Baby Maya 13 weeks HOME

As many of you know and have been following, our dear friend Deb_M and her husband, Ryan, have been blessed with the early arrival of their own miracle, Maya. This past week, Maya was able to come home from the hospital at 13 weeks... Just a week shy of her due date.

Here is the latest update I recieved from Deb and she'd like to share with you.

Barb

P.S. To see the latest photos of Maya's homecoming, please click the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/barbara.cumbo/Picasa?authkey=Gv1 sRgCNOHuODQnNf67wE

Maya – 13 Weeks Old (1 wee****il due date)

What an eventful week!  Maya’s homecoming last Thursday was everything we hoped it would be.  When it was time to leave the hospital, Maya’s primary nurses came out to say good-bye, along with so many others that have helped her (and us) over the past 3 months.  It was such a joyous occasion.  She was all bundled up in her car seat and ready to roll!  I half-expected someone to come out and say just kidding…you can’t take her.  But nope!  In fact she is ours.  We loaded her up in the truck with daddy driving oh so carefully and started the long drive home.  I think she was asleep before we left Duke property, and only stirred a few times along the way.  We arrived home to beautiful pink balloons on the porch (thank you Tyler!)  We introduced Spirit & Shadow to Maya who acted as if they’d known her for years.  They were mildly curious, but respectful and seemed to know from the start that she was a notch above them on the totem pole.  Once we got settled, we just held her for awhile, completely in awe that we finally had our precious baby at home.  It was a lot of change for Maya all in one day.  She got a little uncomfortable as the night wore on, but I snuggled up with her in our familiar kangaroo style and she settled right in.  We put her to sleep in the pack n play bassinet in our room and she did great, waking up every few hours to eat and then right back to sleep.  We quickly learned however, that she doesn’t do so well with quiet.  In the morning she was fussing a bit while I went to take a shower.  Ryan said she settled right down once the radio was on, and the fan and shower were running.  I guess that’s a NICU baby for you!

Friday we were on the road again to meet her pediatrician.  We loved Dr. Kelly (thanks for the recommendation Nic) and think he’ll be a good fit for those typical baby things.  She’ll still be seen by Duke specialists for eye, cardiac and developmental follow-ups.

Since then we’ve run a few errands, but mostly just enjoyed our time at home as a family, working on our whole new sleeping schedules.  Maya’s favorite sleep times seem to be between 5 and 11 AM, so if we could back that up to nighttime…we’d be in business!

On Wednesday we headed back up to Duke to see the eye specialists.  Unfortunately, her right eye has continued to get worse and they decided it was time to perform laser surgery.  So, we checked her back in to the NICU.  Since she’s been “out in the world”, she is now considered a germ carrier, so she got her own little isolation room.  Dr. Freedman performed the surgery Wednesday afternoon with some mild sedation.  The procedure went well and if all goes according to plan, the only effects of her ROP will be to her peripheral vision.  There is still a good chance that she’ll need glasses, but we’re thankful that her eyes were examined from the start and her ROP was caught early enough to be able to repair it at the right time.  Not to mention the fact that her surgeon is world-renowned.  She really helped put us at ease.  We spent the night at the hospital and were all headed home again by noon on Thursday. 

Maya will be seen again next Tuesday for follow-up, and another check on her left eye.  Hopefully that one will still correct itself and she won’t need surgery on it too. She is getting eye drops for a few days while she heals, but we’ve been assured that she’s not in any pain, and she really doesn’t seem to be. 

So now everything is back to our new normal at home.  We’re working on figuring out our new schedule, sleeping when we can and just loving having our little miracle here with us.  Of course, we’re incredibly proud of her, and really enjoy sharing her with our friends.  J  So, if anyone wants to stop by, we’d love to see you (as long as you’re healthy of course!)

Thanks to everyone for your love and support while we waited for Maya’s arrival, growth and finally homecoming.  We’re loving each moment, and can’t wait to share the adventures that are surely in our future!

All our love,

Ryan, Deb & Maya