The Love of a Family

Two weeks ago, we were driving to the hospital to pick up Maisy. I was a bit of a mess. I cried almost the entire way down.The doctors had given us the go-ahead to take her home that day, but her weight gain had been minimal over the past few nights. My mind was swirling with doubts. Was our baby really going to gain weight at home? I felt sick at the thought of having to take her back to the hospital if she did not do well at home.

For six weeks, Maisy had been surrounded by medical professionals, scientific formulas about what needed to happen for her to grow, and was monitored for 24 hours a day to check her oxygen, respiratory rate and heart rate. I wanted to bring my baby home more than anything, but was terrified and wondered how I was better qualified in her care if nobody else could get her to grow or eat. Justin and I actually called Maisy's pediatric cardiologist to see if she shouldn't just get surgery after all. He said he really felt good about her coming home.

Once Maisy got home, it didn't take long.She finally had siblings wrestling in earshot, warm snuggles all day long, and nurses who didn't have any other patients. 2 days later, at her first weigh in since coming home, she had gained 2 ounces- a better average than she had at the hospital. 2 days after that, we were able to remove her nasal-gastric (NG) tube because she was eating everything she needed to and more by mouth for the first time in her life.On Tuesday, we went to the cardiologist. Maisy is up to 7lbs. even. A little crazy, because she is seeming so big these days and hasn't reached the birth weight of either of our kids. She's getting close though and she is 8 weeks old today! Dr. Brescia, the cardiologist, said that she looks great and that they want to wait at least another month to do surgery and let her keep gaining weight. The bigger the better! We also feel good about waiting and are excited that she is growing. Our doctors and all of our medical providers have been excellent and we have appreciated their genuine concern and willingness to answer all of our questions and address any concerns.
I've learned in the past few weeks, however, that the love of a family and the power that love has for good cannot be underestimated. We are so happy to have Maisy home with us and are even happier to see her thriving in our care.