Bringing Home Baby

Vive le difference. Owen's homecoming was fraught with obstacles and uncertainties: Would his bilirubin level be low enough? (It eventually was). Should we let our obstetrician perform a circumcision at 9 o'clock at night after performing three back to back c-sections? (We did). Would Allen get to play in the EPA softball playoffs? (He didn't and they lost).

But with Nora, it all pretty much went like clockwork. Initially we were told we'd be checking out Wednesday since our insurer had a new policy that all healthy, normal deliveries completed by 7 pm (Nora was born at 6:54 pm) should be discharged the next day. However, after I pointed out that having authored the economic analysis of the Mothers and Newborns Act, I was pretty sure such a policy was illegal, they seemed content to let us stay until Thursday.

Thursday came and by 10 am I had already been given the thumbs up and Nora had passed her bilirubin test with flying colors. Since circumcision was not an issue, we simply had to arrange for Allen to come get us and officially be escorted out. This turned out to be slightly more complicated than we initially thought.

Due to Nora's surprisingly slim legs and feet (given she weighed almost 9 pounds), the security tag which alerts the staff if someone should try to remove her, kept falling off during our stay. We had it re-attached numerous times and apparently the last time they did so they forgot to reactivate it. Moreover, they forgot to take it off when we left. While no alarm sounded, they apparently realized the mistake and had security hold us in the downstairs lobby while a nurse came to remove it. (There was talk of a guard losing his job, but we left before that was sorted out).

We made it home by 12:30 pm, just in time to see Owen, Grandpa and Grandma Z back from a fairly extensive walk. Owen got to watch his baby sister nurse and make sure that Mommy and Nora would stick around before the entire household took a nap. Afterwards, Grandma Z enticed Allen into a trip to the grocery store with promises of a homemade rhubarb pie which expanded to grilling pork chops and having Mom Mom and Grandpa Don over for dinner.

We had a hard time prying Nora from her grandmothers' hands in order to try and get her down for at least the first part of the night, and Grandpa Don got Owen a bit riled up for bedtime, but eventually we all settled in for our first night at home as a full family.
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