Gillen Family: Heading Home

Denver has been home with us for 10 days - the same amount of time he was in the NICU, so that means starting tomorrow he will be home longer then he was in the NICU. What a wonderful feeling! It's been wonderful having him home.
I guess I should start with Day 10 in NICU. Barby came over and watched Katelynn so that Chris and I could go and pick up Denver. We got to the NICU around 1pm.

A little about my breastfeeding experience: I wanted to go to the NICU early so I could talk to the lactation consultant about trying to breastfeed Denver. We tried for awhile, but didn't have any success. She recommended using the shield (the same thing I had to use for an entire year with Katelynn, and after that experience with her all I can say is no thank you). After 10 days at home I am still pumping and providing breastmilk for Denver, but I don't see it going for an entire year (heck, I can barely see myself doing it for another month or two). After spending $50 yesterday on NB diapers, Toddler training pants, and a box of wipes adding formula to our bill is not going to be fun at all, but the $20 for formula will be well worth the price over this experience/headache. A positive experience from all this pumping is that Chris is loving being able to feed Denver - it's something he never got to do with Katelynn; that and it's still breastmilk, and I guess as long as I can keep providing it for him I will keep trying, but boy is it a pain (literally!).
Okay, on to another topic. Bringing him home! What a wonderful moment that was for us! They gave him his last dose of antibiotics, removed his IV, we got him dressed and loaded into the carseat, then we headed out of the NICU. What a glorious feeling! No more having to leave our little guy behind.