Home

Our final week at SickKids dragged on and on...knowing that we were able to come home, and were waiting for air ambulance transport made each day feel like 5 days.  After waiting for days for a air ambulance to come, with nothing happening, my amazing Dad got on the phone to the NL Minister of Health and her deputy ministers.  I wasn't here to witness it, but my Mom and sister tell me that Dad was constantly on the phone to someone, or waiting for a call back from someone, or emailing someone until the air ambulance arrived in Toronto to pick us up.  Thanks to Susan Sullivan, our Minister of Health for kick starting the process to get Jake home.  After two false starts - the air ambulance broke down, and a thunder and lightning storm - the air ambulance crew finally arrived at SickKids at 8pm on Tuesday night.  They then announced that we would have to wait until  morning to fly out because the pilot needed to rest...so one more delay and then on Wednesday morning at 5:30 AM I walked out of the hospital and into the real world with Jacob for the first time in his life!  There was another scare when we sat on the tarmac on Toronto Island and thick fog surrounded us, but the fog lifted after half an hour and the tiny air ambulance took off for Fredricton and then St. John's.  Praise God for that! If I had to spend one more hour in our room on 4D I think I would have been certifiably crazy.  Jake and I spent those hours pacing the halls of SickKids and constantly praying for rescue as if we had been shipwrecked on a desert island for the first 56 days of his life.  When we landed in St. John's I cheered, clapped my hands, and cried...all at once.  Jacob slept through all that excitement :)

The moment that the ambulance pulled up to the Janeway and my family was waiting outside for us is indescribable.  All I can say is that everyone cried - everyone except Jake and Georgia.

Jacob with his lovely air ambulance crew - Susann and Ann. Thanks for bringing us home!

Jacob spent less than 24 hours at the Janeway once admitted, and was released after he had another Echo.  That echo showed another complication that needs to be dealt with during Jake's next surgery, and may move the timeline of his surgery to earlier if it affects his Oxygen sats, but we are not going to worry about that right now.  Jake is home for awhile, and every moment is to be celebrated and cherished.  Momma, Daddy and big Sis brought him to his home and showed him his house and his bedroom - it was a sweet moment.  Taking him out of the hospital and into the real world meant that for the first time in his life there was no one there to remind us to give him his meds or to check his oxygen sats...so we have been adjusting to a very busy schedule of feeds every three hours (bottle and NG tube) and what seems like constant medication.  To top it all off, our washer broke when we got home :) So for the moment my house is a little messier and my life is crazy busy but my heart is very full.  Every moment of having Georgia and Jake together is amazing.

My new mortal enemy and fear is GERMS.  We have gone hand sanitizer crazy, and no one gains entry to our house without using it for the next 3-5 years :)  Today was Jake's first Janeway outpatient appointment - cardiology and the pacemaker clinic.  It was so nice to stroll into the hospital with him, and then out of the hospital 1.5 hours later with him to pick big Sis up from daycare.  The NG feeds are interesting when you are outside the house - here's a shot of us mid-feed in the Janeway Cardiology waiting room:

My treasure is now waking up early demanding his  next feed.  Please continue to pray for Jake as his heart is fragile until his second surgery happens.  My big goal is to get rid of the NG and have Jake plump up...he's still  much too skinny and weighed in at only 9 lbs 8 oz today.  Still, God is good, and He brought Jake home.  I am so thankful for that.