Noah's Home! Now What?!?!

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Noah (left) Getting the Stare-down from Bella and Owen

I missed the normal Three for Thursday write-up this week because we were told that Noah would be coming home on Friday and I didn't want to jinx anything, since we had several go-home dates come and go on Owen.

I am pleased to say that Noah did in fact come home late yesterday afternoon so now our Children's hospital phase is over.

I can't say enough good things about Women and Children's of Buffalo and the NICU area.  Despite a few bumps along the way, we got wonderful care and the fact is, they saved the lives of our three babies.  For that, I am truly thankful.

Noah's not coming home without his challenges.  His torso looks like he's been in a drive-by shooting with all the scars.  Five new ones from the double hernia surgery, as it turns out.

Noah Giving me the Finger

He looks sickly and tiny compared to the other two.  At 7lbs 3oz, he's actually lost weight in the last week and we commented that he looks like one of those poor babies you see on the commercials for poverty-stricken countries.  It's heart-wrenching for us, but at least we know that we have more resources available to us that those other poor children do not.

He's not up to full-feeds yet, so I was a bit surprised that they sent him home.  He eats about 60% what the others do and he's on five oral meds, including a new one added after we got home when the hospital called us to tell us he tested positive for another bladder infection, his fifth by my count.

He didn't sleep well his first night, which means we didn't sleep well.  It's to be expected, but I feel bad for him.  He whimpered most of the night and apart from when we held him for the over night feeds, he was largely inconsolable.  He's currently sitting in a swing behind me now and still whimpering.  It's all new to him, and he'll come along.  We're more worried about nursing him back to health.

Noah - Note the tiny arms and legs and the giant scar across his Belly.

The other two babies are both well over 8lbs and Bella looks like she's the furthest along.  She looks twice the size of Noah and is already teething.  This makes her quite cranky, as I've said before, and as such, she's not quiet very often.

Owen seems unphased by it all.  When we put them all on the blanket for the first picture above, we then took to attending and feeding the other two with my wife's aunt Robin being at the house.  And Owen just stayed on the blanket for over an hour without much complaint.

Each baby is on different Formula and Noah's has to be special ordered at $30 a can.  I spent over $120 on meds yesterday (just for Noah and that's with Insurance) and spend about $500 on formula a month.  Couple that with over a hundred a month on diapers and I've come to the conclusion that babies are expensive (understatement).

So what happens from here?

Well, I'll still update the site on the babies from time to time.  It's no longer the focus of the blog.  I've found that I typically only have time to write a couple hundred words here and there at a time, due to the family responsibilities which will ALWAYS come first.

This blog is about what interests me, and while a big part of that is family, it's also metaphysics, religion, simple living, minimalism, productivity, health, finance, poetry, music, and the occasional rant.  It's about mindful living in every facet of my life with lessons that I track for posterity and pass on to anyone who is interested.

I'm still working on a simple living book, which is as much a tool for me and my family as I hope it can be for you.  No, it is not regurgitated information from my blog.  I haven't decided whether it will be an eBook or paperback but I will likely put it out myself rather than spend the time to shop it to publishers and wait several years for one to maybe take an interest and get it out there.

The posting schedule is still a couple of times a week which is quite reasonable given the three new priorities in my life.  I enjoy writing this blog very much and will continue to do it as long as it remains enjoyable.  When I stop enjoying it, I'll shut it down.  I'm pleased that so many of you take time out of your busy schedules to come read this.

My family thanks you for your support during the last five months since the babies were born.