There's No Place Like Home

From the moment I heard we were being admitted into the hospital and the nurse said, "Best case scenario is 24 hrs"...that was my constant prayer. Please Lord, let our stay be no more than 24 hours. The likelihood of that happening though was slim since her bilirubin level was so high. BUT, we know that God's ways our bigger and better than ours, or any medicine or therapy can be. Last night at 8:00 her level was a 17.1-down from 19.5 at the time we were admitted. That was a good sign...the therapy was working. SO, I continued to pray that the levels would take a dive and show even better results in the morning...I was praying for 15. This morning when the test was performed at 5:30 her level was 13.2!!!!! HUGE HUGE HUGE!!!! Even the nurse did a drumroll type thing (she had been my postpartum nurse last week) when she told we and said "YESSSS!!!!" after I hooped and hollered! When the doctor made her rounds about 8:00 she said she was SHOCKED by the results! She said she was HOPING for 15 but thought that was a stretch. She may have been shocked, but I know that it was all of the prayers that our sweet family and friends were lifting up on Ivy Jane's behalf. SO, at 12:00 today we were discharged! It's SO good to be home...just us four. I'm enjoying my sweet little family and crying tears of joy at the drop of a hat. I love my girls, and I love my husband. God is so good. I was made to be a momma and I am LOVING my new role as a mother of two precious baby girls. Here are some pictures of the last 24 hours. For those of you who don't know what phototherapy looks like...here you go!

Here's the little "sunbather" under the big blue fluorescent lights. This is where she stayed for the last 24 hours, other than feeding times every 3 hours for 30 minutes-hour.

She really relaxed a lot more than I thought she would...the band around her eyes worried me but she was warm and toasty under the lights and slept soundly for the most part.
A close-up of her little body...
Warm and a little sweaty...the last time I got her out to eat!
She fell asleep in the car on the way home and I came right in and put her in her bassinet. She was so peaceful...even smiled for Shelby & me as we were watching her.
Therapy at home continues...in the window, stripped down to her diaper. The sunlight helps break down the bilirubin that's still in her body.
My sister Kathy made homemade hotsauce, Mexican rice, chicken enchiladas, and THE BEST teacakes in the world for us for supper tonight...look at this plate of yummy heart teacakes!
Please pray for the bilirubin level to stay down. We go back to the hospital in the morning for one more test. We love you all and thank you for the prayers for our baby girl.