Welcome Home Mason

Yesterday we finally got the 'okay' to go home from the hospital by my doctor and Mason's pediatrician. We were hoping to go home on Tuesday, but since Mason is considered to be a pre-term baby, they wanted to keep him an extra night to play it safe. So yesterday around noon, we signed our final discharge papers and I was being wheeled out to the car to take our sweet boy home.

We had decided to keep Leah at daycare for a few more hours after we got home so we could get settled (even though I was dying to see her). We unpacked all of our things and tried to get organized. We introduced Mason to Sushi. Sushi smelled her and was curious about this little person. She calmed down after awhile, but we could tell she was anxious with this new baby in the house. Rob went and picked Leah up around 3:30 pm and I was SO excited to see her. She definitely was happy to see me. She came and gave me a great big hug and said "Momma, I missed you SOOOO much." She is so sweet. She kept kissing me and told me how glad she was I am home. She did say hi to Mason, but she hasn't really been drawn to him liked I had hoped, but we still have plenty of time. We did get Leah a few presents so she knows how special it is to be a 'big sister.' She also presented Mason a present that all of her friends at daycare made for him. It was very sweet.

The rest of the evening we spent getting settled into our new life! I have two kids now! Mason slept most of the time, so I had a chance to catch up with Leah and snuggle up with her.

I was a little nervous as to how the bedtime routine would go, considering I had sent Mason to the nursery every night that I was in the hospital. Would he be up every two hours? Would he be crying? Mason had a GREAT first night! He had his last feeding around 8:00 pm and we all went to bed around 9:00 pm. (We were both exhausted). Rob and I both woke up at midnight and Mason was still snoozing away. We decided to wake him up to give him a bottle and change his diaper. (He was just circumcised on Monday so we need to keep an eye on it). He took his bottle and went right back to sleep. Then around 5:30 am this morning, I heard a tiny little cry from him in his bassinet and I looked over at him and he was awake. I gave him another bottle and changed him once more. He went back to bed and woke up at 9:00 am. Rob got up with Leah and I was able to sleep until 8:00 am! I know this was only the first night and it is just the beginning, but we lucked out with Leah being a great sleeper. I hope Mason is on the same track. He has been a perfect little angel so far.

This morning, Leah has shown more interest in her baby brother and gave him a big kiss. He was crying when Rob was changing his diaper and Little Miss Leah was very concerned and rushed to his side. She doesn't know it yet, but she is going to be a great big sister.

Today, there is nothing on the agenda besides adjusting to our new family and taking it easy. We kept Leah home from daycare. I am still very sore and am moving pretty slow. (I am feeling better this time around than with my c-section with Leah). Tomorrow, we have a photographer coming over to do newborn pictures of Mason and hopefully get a few good ones of Leah and Mason together. We've had this session scheduled for a few months now. Luckily the photographer was able to accommodate a new date once we learned Mason arrived early. I am excited and hope the morning goes smoothly! We also have an impromptu photo session scheduled for Saturday. This was completely not planned and totally last minute. I was hesitant to do it since we already had a session scheduled for tomorrow and Mason is so little, but it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. A friend, who also does photography emailed me about a free newborn photography session. (Basically she is attending a photography workshop that a professional photographer leads and they need newborn models that are 5-10 days old). By participating, we would get a 2 hour photo session and free images from the shoot by the instructor. I went to her website and she had some amazing pictures. It is in Lincoln Park on Saturday morning. Luckily, I think my brother will be able to watch Leah for us while we go do these pictures. Hopefully out of the two sessions, we'll have some amazing pictures to share.

On Monday, we have to take Mason back to the hospital to re-do the hearing screening. After he was born, he did the infant hearing screening. He passed in his left ear and failed in his right ear. Rob and I were pretty upset about this at first, but the technician told us it is common and they would re-test him the next day. They came in the next day to re-do the test and he still did not pass, he failed in both ears. They again said, this happens sometimes with c-section babies and there  can be fluid in their ears or if they are too fidgety it could cause them not to pass. Again, we were pretty upset to hear this and hope nothing is wrong with Mason's hearing. We now have to go back again on Monday to have them do it again. If he does not pass again, we will go have to see a specialist. I've talked to a few people (nurses, friends, etc.) and it sounds like this is more common than we think. I am praying everything goes well. Has anyone else encountered this before?

For now, we are just going to enjoy our family time!