October 31-November 1, 2011 - Day 30 & 31

4 months, 3 weeks, 6 days since diagnosis
day #40 of current hospital stay

How wonderful it was to be home. It was like I never left. I did all the things that I normally did and it was amazing... even down to bickering with my husband and my daughter! I didn't get home and into bed until well after 3am but I was absolutely ready for my birthday girl when she woke me up in the morning. It was awesome... she had no idea I was going to be there! Boy, was she surprised!

We had the housing inspection for the house that Jon had put a bid on. OMG - I love the house. There is minimal wrong with it and we're just waiting for the bank to accept the offer since it's a short sale. The process can take forever but we're really hoping that it gets sped along and that we can get into the house quickly. I'm very scared about the whole process, though. Two houses and two mortgages? We're going to seriously have to tighten our belts to make this work. This would be hard under normal circumstances but much more difficult considering Riker's care. It's also a lot of house. I have no idea how much it will cost to heat and what the electrical bill will look like. Alas, I can't worry about these things now. We'll make it through.

We got to have a small birthday party for Valentine and she was spoiled rotten (we're going to need to work on that when this is all over. less stuff, more love :). We got to go trick or treating and Valentine got to run around in the snow. The visit was short but it was perfect. It even wasn't too bad saying goodbyes.

It was the break I needed and I came back to the hospital feeling refreshed. The nurse says that Riker's bronchiolitis is not really improving which is disheartening but I am certain it will improve. They didn't even try to feed her in the 48 hours I was gone which was frustrating but I don't think she would have eaten anyway. They put in an NG tube right before I came back that she sneezed out in the first 10 minutes. The second was also put in before I got there. After an X-ray to make sure it was placed correctly, we have started breast milk feeds again. We're only starting with 8 ccs an hour which isn't even 1/3 of an ounce. It is a start, though.

The nurses said she had a good couple of days and I even got some pictures from Halloween. I think that the volunteers spoiled her and, of course, Riker loved every minute of it :) It's nice to know she was well cared for.

So I'm back. I'm here for the long haul again. This place has finally become familiar and it's not so bad to be back.