House Rules

We made it home around 8:30 pm after a very long day of travel. Being first time infant toting travellers, we didn't really have a plan for heating bottles and changing diapers. Both of our cars were filled to the max and we didn't want to go into a convenience store restroom to change him, so the back seat floor board of my car covered with several layers of blankets became our changing table and Alan and I fed him in the back seat (a little cramped with a car seat in between us) but it worked. We stopped in Clarendon and the first feeding went well, back on the road in about an hour. Then we stopped in Aspermont and things weren't so smooth--couldn't find a place to heat the bottle. Evidently Allsup's does not have a hot water spout on their coffee machine like the last place, and the ladies were less than thrilled when Alan asked them to heat the water in their microwave after they had already given me warm tap water. Graham spit up what seemed like a lot of his milk and after being on the road for nearly 6 hours we decided that we were going straight home rather than meet the lady in Abilene for the monitor. Our plan is to meet her in Cross Plains tomorrow which is only about 35 minutes from here so we shouldn't have to eat in the car... Anyway, we finally arrived to the welcoming committee (both sets of grandparents) about 8:30--we stopped at Alan's parents first to feed him then let him meet the grand dad that he hadn't yet met - George. Poor Graham was a little fussy after all he'd been through that day, come to think of it, so were his parents. :-)

When we drove up to our house we were so excited to find a HUGE banner saying "Welcome Baby Graham" that our dear church family had done- I'll post pictures later. We also found many gifts left for us that our parents had brought to the house along with more clothes than one baby will ever wear - thanks cousins for hand me downs! It was amazing to be home again!!! We saw the nursery that my parents had been working on while we were away, and everything was so great, but we quickly went to bed.

The night went OK. Graham was a little whiny all night but that is understandable - today he seems to be resting much better.

I didn't realize how difficult it was going to be to "follow the rules". The doctors and nurses in the hospital did a wonderful job of establishing the rules for us to follow while we were at the hospital. Two guests at a time, scrub and dress in a gown, touching limited. At times we scoffed at the ridiculousness of all that, but now that we are home and in a much less "sterile" environment, I find myself replaying all of those "warnings" the medical specialist gave us for our still fragile little boy.

I feel like some sort of germ-a-phobic warrior when I ask our precious family members and closest friends to scrub before they touch our little man. I find myself wondering about the germs that are around us and praying for our little boy constantly that God will protect him from any illness. All of this is because we have been warned that our baby is at a heightened risk for infection and illness just because he was born so early. His immune system is immature the same as the rest of his body. They told us of common colds that lead to RSV and Pneumonia sending babies such as Graham right back to the hospital with potentially harmful effects. I never knew what RSV was until our stay in Amarillo and now I truly fear it! If you want a little info about RSV, click HERE.

So, in advance, if you are a visitor and I seem a little overly concerned, or a little too zealous with the antibacterial gel, please understand that I am acting on the advice of medical professionals that have given me a list of rules that we must follow to ensure we do not put our son at any unnecessary risk. If I bend the rules and he winds up ill, I will be to blame. We need and appreciate the love and support of each of you, and we are so grateful to have people who want to meet and love on our new baby. It sure is good to be home!