Housekeeping and a Little Settling In (again)

I love Vanilla Coke and since I can't seem to find it in GR but saw it at the local grocery store, I treated myself and bought some. So, I am sitting on my bed, in the dark, watching Notting Hill (they have movies we can borrow, here), having just finished some Clam Chowder. Now that you know exactly what I'm doing, we can move on!

Tonight's Housekeeping Items:

--Jason said to re-post this because he didn't catch it--I registered at Target. We're under "Tiffany Evans" in the state of "Michigan" with a due date of "November 4". You can see our registry online or at a store kiosk.

--Isaac is currently in a room with 2 other babies--that's why Hannah is not allowed in with me. There are only a handful of NICU's across the country (from my understanding) that have single bed rooms. Aultman's NICU was remodeled only a year ago--that's why their facilities are top notch. Most NICU's have several (3-10 or so) babies in each room. Rainbow (where he is, now) has a couple single bed rooms for isolation purposes and had put Isaac in there the first few days he was here for our convenience because of Hannah. I assume they must have needed the single room and that's why he was moved. Rainbow is actually under a remodel right now and is supposed to open their single bed NICU sometime next year.

--Isaac is still recovering from the NEC (intestinal infection) but is doing well. His platelets continue to be in a lower range but it could be from the UTI he tested positive for today. He started on some antibiotics and hopefully it will clear up in the next week or so. He's up to 15ml of formula--back to where he was at when the NEC began. You can see in the pics he's still pretty swollen--he continues to receive diuretics for this.

--As far as childcare for Hannah goes, when the Activity Room (place for kid patients they're allowing Hannah to utilize) is open and staffed, I think that will work as long as the volunteers remember she's only 2 and needs someone to keep her active. She went yesterday and it worked great. It was only for an hour or so so we'll see how it goes. This avenue will likely only work short term until something more permanent comes into play. As Isaac gets older, we will play a larger role in caring for him, meaning, we'll have to be more available. At this point, with nothing else panning out, we're planning on enrolling her in KinderCare next week.

--Our address here:
Ronald McDonald House
ATTN: Tiffany Evans--Room 209
10415 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106

--Speaking of addresses...in most cases, if a patient is transferred for specialized care, they are usually transferred back to their original hospital once they have recovered and are stable. In fact, we thought we would be returning to Canton and Aultman. However, when we spoke with Isaac's doctor, here, he said he saw no reason to transfer him back. So, Cleveland, we're here to stay! It is now that I say thank you to everyone in Canton for your love and support for Isaac and our family. I honestly was sad to learn we wouldn't be back. I was planning on leaving the hospital for the first time with Isaac from our Aultman NICU. I returned to Canton a few days ago to pick up all our things we had left at our home away from home. We will be back in Canton in March, for Isaac's finalization hearing and plan to stay at the McKinley Grand and stop in for a visit with the family we've been staying with and maybe a visit to the NICU. Thank you very much C&S T (we love you forever!), Aultman Hospital and the staff in the NICU (thank you for taking such great care of our Isaac), The McKinley Grand and staff (can't wait to see you again), The Repository, RiverTree Christian Church (for your hospitality and for raising money for us) and to every single person who has been following our story and praying for us. We appreciate you all. Canton will always hold a very special place in our hearts.

Wow! That was a lot!

So, we're settling in again. I finally unpacked our suitcases and put our pictures on the dresser. It's beginning to feel like home. We're beginning to develop a bit of a routine. Every time we move somewhere else, we have to tweak our schedule. Hannah is a trooper and a true joy. Sometimes I get tired of being with her and only her with really no other conversations. But she really is a joy. She makes me laugh and do silly things. She keeps me busy and on my toes. I love her laugh and her smile. After I'm away from her for only an hour, I can't wait to see her again. She's having some sleeping problems and that's difficult, but I figure her stress is going to show up somewhere.

Jason is in the Upper Peninsula tonight for work. He'll return home tomorrow. Hannah and I will head for home on Thursday and then the three of us will head to Mackinaw City on Friday to spend the weekend with Jason's family as we remember his mom (in case you didn't catch it in an earlier post, Jason's mom passed away very suddenly in June). It will be a sad time, but spending time together as a family is what Nancy would've loved and I know we're all looking forward to spending time with each other. I know Hannah and I are looking forward to seeing everyone. Hannah can't wait to see her Papa!

You must be tired of reading by now. I've missed most of the movie, although I vaguely remember some scenes, now, so I guess I've seen it before.

I hope you enjoy our pics.

Love to all!