Home from the Hospital on my Birthday - the Best Present EVER!!

Let me start by saying THANK YOU for all of the prayers!! Many of you have kept Jordan and our family in your prayers over the past several days to months and we have experienced the grace of God every day because of them. I am amazed at how much is happening in our lives and yet we are somehow able to stay strong amidst the storms. Thank you for encouraging us through this difficult time.

We started Jordan's feedings yesterday about noon. We started with 1 oz. every 3 hours. If she was able to handle it for 2 feedings, we increased the amount by 1/2 oz. We continued this every 3 hours. Jordan's goal was 24 oz of Pediasure which breaks down to 3 oz every 3 hours (8 feedings in a 24 hour period). Jordan reached her feeding goal of 3 oz at noon today and was able to go home. After the process of discharge instructions and emergency tube info, we finally left the hospital at 2:30pm.

We are now at home. Jordan had her first home-feeding at 3:45pm and then fell asleep and is still napping. I laid down for a brief nap after cleaning the tubes and am now getting caught up on everything at home. We will continue to feed Jordan every 3 hours until she sees the surgeon for her follow-up appt in 2 weeks. Then I will contact Dr. Burdo-Hartman's office and they will give me instructions on how to get Jordan onto 5 larger daytime only feedings. So for the next few weeks it will be like having a newborn at home with a couple of nighttime feedings every night. Derrick and I discussed her schedule and think that we can get it to where I will only have to get up 2 times per night (of course, that doesn't include all the times Conner might be up and need to be put back in bed...) At this point, we need to take it slow during the feedings, so they still take about 15-20 minutes each. After she becomes more comfortable with them, we should be able to increase the speed of the feed so it should only be 10 minutes or so.

We are so relieved that Jordan made it through surgery and recovery so quickly. Several of the nurses commented on how well she tolerated the feedings and how her overall recovery was quicker than many G-tube patients. A couple of the nurses took quite a liking to Jordan and would just hang out in the room and play with her! I was very happy with everyone at DeVos Children's Hospital.

Overall, the stay in the hospital was great! The nurses were wonderful - I never had one that I didn't like. Our first night we had a roommate which made things quite difficult after kinda getting off on the wrong foot because we they came in not long after us and we had several visitors at once. Then overnight between the two babies, they were awake most of the night. I am guessing I got a total of 3 hours of sleep but never for more than 1/2 hr - 45 minutes at one time! The second night I explained the situation to my nurses and they worked hard to keep roommates out for me to get a good night's sleep. Of course I was up 3 times for feedings and a couple of times her machines had alarms go off - but overall, it was a good night's sleep.

Please pray for Jordan's continued healing and recovery and for her to continue to tolerate the feedings. I also need prayer for sleep at night and energy during the day as feeding her every 3 hours for 24 hrs is going to be exhausting. The boys have been with my parents in Kalamazoo and will stay there until Monday to give me a chance to adjust to things with Jordan at home. Please pray also for them as they are not used to entertaining a 3 yr old and a 13 yr old at the same time (they usually have one at a time).