Home at last...Home at last...Thank God Almighty, we're home at last!!

I had to change the words just a bit from the final words of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I have a dream speech, but it's true...we're home!!

One of Shawna's favorite times of year is the Christmas season and getting the family out and about, enjoying all of the great, family, offerings that the season presents.  Getting home by the holiday's was always something we felt would happen but we were never sure.  So, one of our first activities as a family of 5 was to get out and enjoy the horse/sleigh rides and reindeer downtown Zeeland.

But let me back up.  Our last update had us hanging out in the NICU at CHOP and waiting to finish our checklist for discharge from the hospital.  Kierstyn was doing very well and by Friday night, of the birth, we thought there may be a chance that we'd be discharged on the following day.  Well, that night, KJ's temperature dropped just a touch (enough for some small concern but VERY small concern) which had a few of the doctors wanting us to stay for "a little longer."  Well, the doc that told us that Saturday morning told us that and then jetted away, leaving us (and our now frustrated nurses, as they'd seen KJ for a few days and saw that she was doing great) with a very blurry picture of when we'd be able to come home.  We requested to see that doctor again so we could be given a ballpark figure of when we'd be discharged so that we could figure things out for travel and me getting home for work.  Our NICU nurse (we had many awesome ladies, but one in particular, Katie) really went to bat for us and pulled some strings with a different doctor who was also phenomenal in taking into consideration our distance from home, to get the process going.  Unfortunately, by mid afternoon we still had not been communicated with on discharge.  So, I went back tot he Ronald McDonald House to check out and pack up.  I needed to get back home to work on Monday and Shawna was feeling good enough hanging in Philly a few more days (what's a few more after 101) and possibly flying home or me heading back out to pick them up.  

Frustrated with not knowing a few more answers, I jumped in the car at about 3 and aimed it west on my way home to pick up the boys at John and Janet's and get home by Sunday.  Fortunately, we (Hope) was playing at 3 so I could listen to our game on the radio while I started my journey home.  I was celebrating Ben Gardner's layup at the buzzer of the first half when my phone rang and Shawna's name popped up on my screen (I was now about an hour into the trip home).  "Can you turn the van around?  How far are you?"  This was with a bunch of laughing in the background from our nurse and doctor.  It was determined that there was a very good chance we'd be shipped home the next day so I needed to turn around and head back to CHOP!!!  All good with me if it meant we be on the road home, for good, the next day (personally, I think it was our insurance company wanting to get us off the books and they told CHOP to kick us out!!).  So, one more night in the NICU.  Sunday turned into a long day before discharge as lots of paperwork needed to be done and on a weekend, CHOP is a bit less staffed than on a weekday.  We spend the morning hanging out and waiting (we'd become pretty good at that).

We were finally released around 1 in the afternoon and booked it home, arriving around 2am Monday morning.  KJ was a rockstar traveler....and I say that not because she "sang" and made noise like one, but that we only stopped 3 times and she slept for 99% of the time we were on the road.  The other rockstar was the star of this whole show, Shawna.  Maybe I shouldn't be typing this as it may get her in trouble, but she even drove for about 3 hours!!  

Our arrival so late/early meant we couldn't wake the boys to see their new sister but it sure made it easy to get them out of bed in the morning (many of you parents know the battles with kids in the morning, waking them up before they want to get up) when they knew they'd be able to see KJ.

They were PUMPED....to say the least.  We didn't know how long the excitement of having a new sister would stick around and keep them on their best behavior, but still, into our second week at home, the boys have shown us that KJ is going to be blessed with two great, caring, big brothers.

The much anticipated arrival back home and adjustments back to "life as normal" - whatever normal is - has been an interesting one and at times overwhelming.  We arrived to a house that was decorated beautifully with Christmas cheer and numerous reminders of CHOOSING JOY.  Updates to our house had been made, cleaning had (once again) been taken care of, the fridge and cupboards and been stocked (but the roof still hadn't been redone....c'mon people!!).  We were once again, blown away, by the selfless acts by many people to make our lives and transition home, easier.  The prayers, calls, texts, gifts, cards, etc., keep pouring in to help support us.  We've been left, time and time again, speechless at the incredible people that we are so blessed to have in our lives.

We come home to our new normal.  With KJ, it will be years of lots of appointments with many different specialists to track her and help to make her life as "normal" as possible.  It started this week with a visit with our family doctor and a checkup with neurology in GR.  Just to preface the medical update, a lot of her future, medically, we won't know about until she keeps getting older and developing (i.e. we won't know the severity of any ambulatory issues until she's at the age when walking would start to occur).  The neuro-doc was encouraged by her development, already, as she weighed in at 5lbs. 11oz., above her birth weight of 5.3!!!  The areas that may be cause for concern and possible shunting in her brain checked out and looked good.  These will be closely monitored for a while to make sure nothing screwy happens, which is always a possibility.  He commented that her scar from the surgery also looks to be in great shape and healing well!!  So far so good!!  We'll be seeing bladder specialists and orthopedics in the next week and are also hoping for good reports from them.  

For those of you that know Shawna, having a 3rd child was not going to slow her down.  Life does seem to be back to normal as I've been able to get back to work, out recruiting (with the boys a little) for Hope, Shawna to the Critter barn with all the kids today (shoot, I got a text picture of them at the movie "The Good Dinosaur" last week....KJ was 9 days old!!!, although it being an empty theatre at 11am Shawna said it was great as the boys could be loud and she could breast feed without any worries!!).

So, long story long, we're home and happy to be here.  Seeing friends and family in the community, at work, at church, basketball games, etc., has been awesome and we can't stress how grateful we are for this.  This is a thank you to you!!  

CHOOSING JOY (as a family from Zeeland...but honestly, missing Philly...a little)

-Jeff

Tik-toc-tik-toc-tik-toc

So, before I get going here, sorry Lions fans.  Oh my.
Next, if you can't look at a sweet little face like this, stop reading, as you'll see plenty of it through this blog.  That's my girl!!

We're even catching nurses from other parts of the NICU popping over just to peek at our little blessing!  Good thing she looks like her mom!!

So, all along, I've tried to tell myself (and Shawna) that if we have a girl I won't give her the "princess treatment" and I've already put my foot down (in my head) to not allow myself to do that.  For example:

-her first car will NOT be a lamborguini (sorry on the spelling)...just a corvette.

-I will NOT pay for a destination wedding in Fiji or any other foreign, exotic island...just Hawaii.

-I will NOT buy 4-6 American Girl dolls for her...only 3.

-I will NOT take her on shopping sprees to the Michigan City Outlets...just the Tanger's in Wayland.

See...I can hold firm and give her equal treatment.  No problem.

Sorry Myles and Peyton, but lil sis may get different treatment than you do....not better, just different, and the sooner you can accept that, the better life will be for you.  Chad and I never fully bought into that and that is why we've suffered for so many years....Kurt, you too?

Speaking of the boys, they've already been awesome as they react to their new baby sister via facetime at both sets of grandparents houses.  They ask to see Baby Kierstyn right away and give some really funny, big brotherly reactions to how "cute" she is and giggle at her.  They even went shopping today with Grandma Janet and picked out a purple (GO CATS...yeah boys...by the way, Northwestern football is 10-2...I think that is a better record than a team over on the east side of the state) outfit and a few toys for Kierstyn.  They're going to be great big bros.  They've also been able to have some fun with the grandparents for (hopefully, well in terms of it being due to us being in Philly) the last time.

On Grandma Sue's 60th birthday, Tuesday, they spent some time at the Old People's Dormitory of Holland, officially known as The Warm Friend, with Great Grandma Dirkse watching the trains that are set up.  They showed us their new Bubble Guppies (???) or Aqua somethings they got at Meijer today during their soccer game at Papa John and Grandma Janet's house...I think they're surviving just fine.  Here comes Detox December.  

Well, back to some details with Kierstyn and Shawna.  Shawna was in some serious pain the day after surgery as initial meds and pain killers wore off and the cramping from breast feeding set in....not to mention the second major surgery on her abs in less than 3 months.  She made it through that day with flying colors and the "You can either throw in the towel or use it to wipe the sweat off of your face" speech from me...just kidding.  One of her/our saving graces was one of the fabulous nurses that we had (we had her after the initial surgery in August as well), Jill.  She is one of the most happy-go-lucky, funny, positive, caring, empathetic people we've experienced in our time in Philly.  She was always so open to how Shawna was feeling and bent over backwards to be creative with pain meds when Shawna was in some serious pain (I got the feeling she broke a few rules, too, to make sure Shawna was feeling okay).  We can't thank her enough.  Each day since has been better and Shawna was officially discharged today!!!  She spent most of the day crib-side with Kierstyn, although she was quite the popular girl today.  She had a hearing test....

look at those cords for her little headphones....no Beats by Dre, but the little babies version.

Then, she had an MRI that lasted a few hours to assess her brain/ventricles and her spine.  Results of that will help determine whether shunts are needed but we won't know on those until tomorrow (well, today, as I see it's now past midnight).  She also got her first pieces of equipment to help correct some ambulatory issues that she'll have.  The people in pediatrics made some custom bright orange and green splints for her legs....oh yeah.  We won't have her casted to correct her bi-lateral club feet until we get back to Michigan (see pics).

That will be quite a process but we'll make our way through the process...I've thought maybe her theme song should be "We Be Clubbin'" by Ice Cube!!  

She's been nursing from Shawna likes she's never ate before (well, she really hasn't) and that has been huge.  They've stopped doing ultrasounds on her bladder as she seems to be successfully and fully emptying her bladder on her own, not that she'll have control over it, which is a big deal for spina bifida babies!!  So, all in all, we're getting great reports on her progress on her way to discharge.  We've experienced some awesome nurses, as well, in the NICU.  The people, once again, continue to make our experience at CHOP the best that the circumstances could allow for.  

We've been asked many times when we'll be discharged and our best answer is..."yes."  So, we have no idea.  We still need to take an infant CPR course but will complete that today (Friday), Kierstyn has passed everything that we've received results for, and it looks like the path is getting shorter as we are encouraged to overhear some nurses talk about in the next few days while a few others have made comments about "by Christmas" or "in the next 5 weeks" to which I though Shawna was going to deck the doctor with an upper cut (that doc had NO idea this was a 37 week mom/baby...total assessing the situation, not the patient).  So, we don't know and are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.  What we do know is it will be a bittersweet departure, whenever that does happen, as we've met so many unbelievable people throughout this journey, that do amazing things.  Just a quick example for those of you who have followed the blog, I mentioned a LONG time ago a couple from West Virginia who we were staying at the Holiday Inn in Chestnut Hill with who's daughter was going to be born with only 1 functioning lung and it was only functioning at 25% and was given a 5% chance of survival...guess who's in the NICU room/area right next to us...them, and when I asked the mother today how the daughter was doing (she was born a month or so ago) her eyes lit up and she gave me a two thumbs up....ARE YOU KIDDING ME...?  The medical personnel at CHOP do amazing things and we feel so blessed to be under their care.  Just to give you a quick pic of the NICU room that Kierstyn is in, and you can't see it all, as their are chairs/lazyboy style for us....

The amount of cords and monitor on or by Kierstyn are VERY precautionary, as they're just monitoring her lungs and heart but are really of little concern.  I think the nurses that have been assigned to her are on quite a bit of a break to what they're used to (although they do have to deal with Shawna and I).  I think Kierstyn may be the healthiest baby in the NICU as there are some pretty nasty situations that we're witnessing.  I'm amazed by the spunkiness, laughter, smiles, positive attitudes of the nurses in the NICU as they, day after day, deal with very dreary issues and life and death situations that don't always turn out well.  Unbelievable.  

We have had heavy hearts, ourselves, though, in the past few days for one of my players at Hope, Steve Wittenbach, as his mother lost her lengthy battle with cancer on Sunday.  The funeral for Deborah was today.  Please keep the Wittenbach's in your thoughts and prayers.  Amazingly, I am so fortunate to have the chance to be around unbelievable young men at Hope.  When I called Steve Sunday evening, his first question to me right away was asking how Shawna was doing.  Really, from a 22 year old kid who just lost his mother, he was showing concern for my wife.  Thanks, Witt.  You're the man.  Hang in there!!

Another shout out needs to go to the Penn Basketball coaching staff.  They've opened up their doors to me to come to any and all practices that I can as their gym is just a two minute walk from CHOP.  Each time I go, they all call me by name, ask how Shawna is doing, and have shown great support and compassion to me.  This is D1 basketball we're talking about.  They've got much bigger fish to fry than to go above and beyond to accommodate a small D111 school's assistant coach, but they have.  Go Quakers!!  I have the utmost respect for them and the type of program they run.  I'll never, in all of my coaching days in the future, forget their welcoming of me as they know what the real priorities are.  

Well, time for bed.  I'm hoping Shawna is catching some crib-side sleep at CHOP with Kierstyn as I made it back to the PRMH to get some laundry and school work done.  Still loving Philly but hoping to be home ASAP!  The clock is ticking....tik, toc, tik, toc.  

YOU KNOW....CHOOSING JOY

-Jeff