I am sure some people wonder how I can go home every other night to sleep (Mark and I trade off), but the reality is we have to. This is a distance race, not a sprint. We have been in here for nine days now and progress is slow. Mark and I need to have nights where we sleep through the night because sleeping at the hospital is brutal. If she isn’t waking us up, nurses coming in to do vitals are. They try their best to be quiet, but we sleep so lightly. The “beds” are far from comfortable and we are always worried about her puking. She pukes a lot. Those nights at home are key for our health.

However, those nights are hard in their own way. Right now we are living in a 450 sq. ft. house. Our main room contains a small couch, the glider we rock Lyra to sleep in, her changing table, her crib, and her swing. Some of her cloths are in our bedroom and her shampoo is in the shower. The thing missing is her, and there is no way to escape it. Most of the time I deal with it okay, but this morning was tough. I just want my baby home. I know she needs to be in the hospital. I know it is the best place for her. And I KNOW we made the right decision for her to have surgery. But frankly, the whole situation just sucks.

I miss laying down and playing on her play mat with her. I miss rocking her to sleep at night. I miss seeing her little face light up with awe whenever we would go outside (she is hooked up to too much for me to take her out here). I miss watching my family play with her. I miss swimming with her, or even just watching her wiggle and squirm in the bath tub. I miss putting her in her jumper and watching her talk to the lion. I miss carrying her around in her moby wrap.

I miss getting her dressed.

Right now she has so many things hooked to her that it is almost impossible to dress her. We have tried a few times and modified a few items of clothing, but she just ends up puking on them within minutes. I can’t even count the number of towels, burp cloths, and blankets we went through yesterday.

This morning was just tough. I just want my baby to come home. She is getting better, but it is painfully slow. Not only does her digestive system have to re-learn how to work, but it has to learn how to work correctly (something it has never done before). Her intestines have figured it out; now we are just waiting for her stomach to get with the program. It’s a long slow process and we are looking at at least another week here. Other days will be easier. At least today she has mostly sleep and have only puked 2-3 times. It is a better day for her, Mama will find tomorrow easier.

Lyra and her new apple hat. Thanks Dawn for making her such a cute hat!