We're Home!!

Last minutes in the NICU, all wires detached and he is no longer connected to the wall. Just before we put him in his carseat to head home!

One big happy family of 5!!


This was a yawn, not a scream. He doesn't really scream that much.

My boys! Love this pic!

I love that I can finally get a naked shot w/o any leads, cannula, etc. in the way. I think it's pretty sweet.

Honestly, we did not plan this!! Josiah and Jeff came over Sunday night and surprise, they were decked out in the same outfit! It was too sweet. Look at the size difference! Josiah is still only like 9 pounds, which isn't that big!!

Uncle Jeff's first time holding Zachary, and he has 2 of the little guys!

Nana loving on Zachary.

If I had a dime for every time I heard, "he's got such long eyelashes" I could fund his college. The boy has some lovely lashes!!

We've been waiting for 6 weeks for these 2 cousins to meet. Finally!

Zach is going to look huge compared to this lobster so soon. I don't want to think of how fast they grow up!

Ok, this was just too sweet. Josiah is 18 days older.

Nana has 2 of her new grandsons. Waiting to see the other this weekend!

Zachary hanging out with monkey George.

Aunt Heidi loving on Zach. She seems to think he is small after holding Josiah.

Love the marker lip.

How sweet is that blanket?!

A sweet sign from the kids.

Leaving the NICU. I didn't know they let you ever leave with these babies :)

Loading up the car. Another sweet moment.

Godmother, Jenny, holding Zach for the first time. This is Dr. Mike's wife. Jenny and Skip went to school together.

Zach and Laney getting their first look at Zachary at home.

Emerald's first time holding Zach.

That's one pretty excited mommy about to take her baby boy home.

Emerald couldn't contain her excitement.

Home at last.

Final weight check before heading home.

The Pankewich Family is united together under one incredibly blessed roof!!! We are so happy to announce that Zachary is home. We brought him home on Saturday, February 7th at about 4:45 pm. That is within hours of an exact 6 weeks since he was born. 6 weeks prior to that date we were packing a bag to head to Overland Park Regional, never realizing what our future held. 6 weeks later we were blessed to be able to bring our healthy little boy home to his eager big brother, big sister, Aunt Heidi, Nana, and cousin Josiah. Let me share the details of that wonderful day!

The rooming in experience was, well, an experience. Zachary did fantastic! He nursed very well for me, and slept very well, too. He didn't seem to be phased by the fact that he had finally gotten the chance to spend the night with mommy. I, on the other hand, was completely enamoured with the fact that I was able to spend all that quiet time with my baby boy. I only wish I had gotten food delivered. I wasn't able to leave the room and they didn't bring me any food. Thank goodness Heidi and Josiah brought me lunch and Jenny brought dinner! Thanks ladies!! It was also nice to have Nana and Daddy bring Emers and Calvin to our room to spend some time with Zach before we brought him home. It is much easier having them in a room instead of the NICU. Two different neonatologists visited us in the room to check on Zach. Unfortunately, Zachary lost about 3 oz during this transition process and the doc gave me a little scare saying "if" he got to go home. I thought we might lose our chance :( Dr. Lancaster gave us the green light on Saturday, though, and were set to bring him home. With all the last minute "teaching" and final weight check before and after eating, we finally walked through the doors at about 3:45 pm. That was much earlier than I thought it would be.

Zach's final weight upon leaving OPR NICU-- 5 lb 11.5 oz which is quite an improvement in 6 weeks from his 3 lb 14 oz at birth. I still look down at him and wonder, with our 16 days to go, how he should still fit inside of me??!! Amazing!!

Emotionally, it was quite a day! I teared up when Dr. Lancaster officially said we were going home that day. I cried real tears when they cut the HUGS (security) tag off him and he was finally free of all hospital "jewelry" (wires and such). I loved the moment when I could hold him and spin in circles b/c he was no longer attached to the wall with his leads and wires/cords. I cried when we put his tiny body in the carseat. I really got emotional when we walked thru the doors of the NICU and the security alarms didn't go off for "taking" our baby away. I cried saying goodbye to Christy and Dawson, mostly b/c I wanted them to be going home also. Needless to say, I did a lot of crying. I cried when we pulled into the driveway, finally home. I cried when Emerald came bonding down the driveway jumping up and down, singing the "Zach is home" song. She was so excited about a sign she had made with Nana that was super cute, and about the balloons. It was so incredibly sweet to see Calvin, markered lip and all, show his excitement when he saw that "Zak-ry's home". He was also sweet bringing the monkey to Zachary, something his sister had done the day we got him. I also loved the moment when Laney finally discovered that there was another of those "things" in the carseat squeaking. I'm not sure Laney is so excited to have another munchkin here to terrorize her.

Zachary seems to be adjusting well. He is so sleepy! We are having to wake him up to eat and keep pestering him throughout the feeding to keep him awake. We have to be very cautious to make sure he continues to gain weight and receives all of his calories. We are also paying very close attention to his breathing during his feeding times b/c that was a big concern in the NICU. He has turned "blue" for us once since he was home, but we have learned what to do just in case. The eating process is quite fun for now--try to nurse (which he isn't doing so well right now), feed him a bottle, then pump. Every 3 hours we spend about an hour to 1 1/2 hours working on this.

We are also going to be extremely careful when it comes to exposing Zach to germs. His immune system is weaker than a newborn's would be, and that is not saying much. He is very susceptible to illness right now, which scares us a lot. I would so love to show him off to everyone, but for now we are going to remain hermits in the house. We plan to take turns going to church in different shifts as to not expose him even there. When guests come over, we've bought large amounts of hand sanitizer and are asking everyone to "scrub in" before touching him. The kids are even getting used to the "rules" set by mom and dad. The very last thing we need right now is him to end up back in the hospital. So, if we seems a little anal, forgive us. We have our first pediatrician appt tomorrow, sad to say not with Dr. Mike. Oh well :) I'm sure we'll be back soon. We are also having home health come to the house to do weight checks and to do some other minor things with Zachary. We've set up 2 other follow-up NICU appts so far and plan for more doc appts in the near future. Whatever it takes to keep our boy healthy!

I have had to laugh at Emerald. She keeps asking when we have to go back to the hospital. I don't think she quite understands yet that Zach isn't going back to the hospital but is actually staying her forever.

I'm sure I have forgotten a lot of details and you can feel free to ask. I'm over the moon, and starting to come down off my "high". I feel a little sleepy but can't blame all that on the baby. Part of it has to do with just life in general.