Dean is going home tomorrow!!! The neanatologist came to talk to us today. Since Dean has had no problems in his stay at the NICU, the doctor asked us today what we would think of taking him home a couple of days early. We were wondering what took them so long to come to that conclusion.

It's been hard watching our perfectly healthy son hang out in the NICU for almost two weeks when he could have easily been at home with no issues. We know that the staff there just wants to play it safe and we understand that, but it's gotten really hard the past few days to just sit and be patient. Jess and I came to a point last night where we were ready to start pushing the staff hard for them to discharge Dean. At this point it just seems like a waste of time and money for him to stay here (As of the 16th, his stay has racked up a whopping $33,000! Of course insurance will cover it, but gimme a break!!!!) What seems silly at this point is that he's not receiving any out-of-the-ordinary care that he couldn't get at home.

Long story short, Jess and I prayed last night that the doctors would let Dean come home early (especially since we have more bad weather coming this weekend). So we showed up this morning really anxious to get Dean out of there. We brought the car seat and everything as if we were taking him home. Sure enough, late this morning the doctor came and asked if we'd like to take him home early (as if they had to ask!). So... sometime tomorrow we should finally be home with the Deanster. Pray for us that nothing will hinder that process...

On a side note. We have had some wonderful nurses at the NICU. They make us feel comfortable and keep us well informed. They are very caring and don't treat us like moron first parents. Today we had an exceptional nurse who went above and beyond. It was really nice to know that Dean was in competent hands. That goes for all of the nurses... except for two of them... For the night shift this evening, Dean has one of those two "special" nurses (one of those irritating people you just want to hide from every time you see them). She is very negative and talks down to us like we don't know anything. She has yet to say one positive thing to us about Dean. Everything that comes out of her mouth is condescening and negative. She is very by the book and doesn't like to stray from the procedure manual. Tonight Dean didn't eat very well. He was circumcised this afternoon (OUCH!!! that's a whole other blog entry) and hasn't had much of an appetite, which is to be expected according to the doctor. Well... tonight Dean didn't eat his required amount and our "special" nurse wasn't happy. Jess explained why he wasn't eating much and told her that the doctor said it was ok and that he would regain his appetite later. Right after Jess told her that, the nurse huffed up and walked straight over to Dean's chart and checked it to make sure that Jess wasn't lying about what the doctor said. She did it as if to make a statement. Very rude and annoying... At one point while I was feeding Dean tonight, his respiratory monitor starting freaking out. I've watched it enough at this point to know when it is accurate and when it is malfunctioning. In the middle of the feeding, it starting malfunctioning and I said to Jess, "How can that be right, the monitor just jumped from 80 to 98 instantly." Once again, our "special" nurse chimed in. I need to add that she was sort of lurking around my back checking up on me (Jess has appropriately nicknamed her "Lurch"). Jess and I were just doing our own thing and Lurch wasn't really a part of what was going on at this point. Jess and I were having a conversation that Lurch wasn't invited to, but Lurch overheard me make that comment to Jess about the monitor and smarted off and told me it was beeping because Dean wasn't breathing. She said it with a tone in her voice as to say, "Duh, you idiot, are you stupid!" The machine was obviously malfunctioning and she was clearly wrong. Everything in me wanted to slap her across her bony pale face. But, being the hard core confrontational guy that I am, I just sat there and acted like I didn't hear her. At yet another point in the evening, Lurch smarted off to Jess again because Jess was holding Dean and the nurse was upset because she needed to take Dean's temperature. She was worried that it would affect his temp reading, as if simply holding a baby that's wrapped in 5 blankets could affect his temperature reading.... This Lurch chick is just rude and annoying and hovers around us and watches our every move waiting for us to make a mistake. Jess and I both are very uncomfortable around this lady and cringe when we see her coming. I could elaborate more, but you probably get the picture of what we're dealing with here.

So tonight we are sort of upset that Dean has to spend his last night in the NICU with the worst nurse on staff. (side note: I've developed a theory that they pair the best nurses with the sickest babies and the worst nurses with the healthiest babies. I also think that Lurch ranks pretty low on the totem pole to have the graveyard shift on a Friday night. I would think the good nurses get their pick of shift times... but I digress). Tonight, we're worried that Lurch will give Dean a bad report to the doctor that would possibly keep him from coming home tomorrow. We're also concerned that we'll show up in the morning and he'll be hooked back up to the IV and have a feeding tube down his throat. We know we're overreacting and letting this chick get to us, but we're both just tired and ready to get our little boy home. I just keep telling Jess and telling myself that God is big enough to handle it. If He was big enough to create Dean, he's big enough to take care of him. It's a comforting fact to know that God loves Dean more than even we do. This is just the first of many steps of faith we will have to take in trusting God to take care of our little boy. We understand that ultimately we don't have much control over the circumstances of Dean's life, but we know the One who does. We know that in the grand scheme of things a crappy nurse is no big deal, but I guess God is just starting us off on this journey of parenthood with a good first lesson. So tonight we're just trusting God to take care of little Dean in spite of the fact that he is in the hands of someone we wouldn't have chosen. We know that from here on out the challenges will just get bigger the further down the path we go, so we'll just begin to trust him in the "little" things and work our way up. It's funny how everything always comes back to our faith and trust in God. Without faith in our God and the truth of His sovereignty, how could we survive one day on this earth without losing our sanity. It's just good to know that He is in on the throne and in complete control of everything in heaven and on earth.

You probably just logged on to the blog to see the latest pics of Dean... Sorry you got an earful.

JR & JR