Today was a huge day. We were moving out of Mease Countryside and heading over to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg. Emma was going to expierence her first car ride. Dr. Roa came in to our room this morning and explained that if Emma did need a central line placed surgically that All Children's would want to take her now and stabalize her themselves. This way they would be able to evaluate her for a few days before making any decisions on what they were going to do. He then went on to tell us that there is a reason our little girl is here and that is something that only the man upstairs can answer. He said that he didn't think she would have made it this far and done as well as she had and he really wished us the best. He told us we had a fighter, and for her sake, that was a good thing. She did have to have some platelets again before the transfer, so they were infusing those this mornign before the call for the transfer went out. The All Children's ambulance showed up around 11:00 am. It took them a long time to get her loaded into the little travel bed. I couldn't watch them move her f
rom her bed to theirs. I started crying and ended up with my head burried in Eric's shirt. The transport team and Anne in the NICU told me that she was ok and that I could look at her. They explained how she was still going to be on a temporary, travel oscilator and all of her medications would still be running. They were hoping to have a nice smooth ride and they were going to try not to use lights and sirens if they could avoid it. They said that this makes drivers nervous and can lead to more issues on the road than needed. They told Eric and I that babies tend to like the car ride and we could follow if we wanted. They asked me if I wanted to say goodbye and I said no, that this wasn't goodbye and that I would see her in a few hours. Eric and I opted not to follow the ambulance. When they would arrive at All Children's we would have to sit in the waiting room until they had her settled in, which could be a few hours, so we went home for a little while. We got home and it already felt weird. They told us they would call as soon as she got settled in and let us know how everything was. I wanted to take a shower so I made Eric come and sit in the bathroom with me, just in case something happened, he had the phone at his side the whole time. I started getting nervous around 2:00 pm when we hadn't heard anything. What do you know, the phone wrang 5 minutes later and much to my surprise Liz, the nurse practioner from Mease was on the phone. Eric was talking to her and I could hear them. She was working over at All Children's and was assigned to Emma and would be following her through until discharge as her main practioner. You have no idea what this meant to Eric and I, it was very comforting to know that she was there with her. She made sure to tell Eric to make sure that I knew Emma arrived and she was settled in. We headed down there as soon as they hung up the phone.
rom her bed to theirs. I started crying and ended up with my head burried in Eric's shirt. The transport team and Anne in the NICU told me that she was ok and that I could look at her. They explained how she was still going to be on a temporary, travel oscilator and all of her medications would still be running. They were hoping to have a nice smooth ride and they were going to try not to use lights and sirens if they could avoid it. They said that this makes drivers nervous and can lead to more issues on the road than needed. They told Eric and I that babies tend to like the car ride and we could follow if we wanted. They asked me if I wanted to say goodbye and I said no, that this wasn't goodbye and that I would see her in a few hours. Eric and I opted not to follow the ambulance. When they would arrive at All Children's we would have to sit in the waiting room until they had her settled in, which could be a few hours, so we went home for a little while. We got home and it already felt weird. They told us they would call as soon as she got settled in and let us know how everything was. I wanted to take a shower so I made Eric come and sit in the bathroom with me, just in case something happened, he had the phone at his side the whole time. I started getting nervous around 2:00 pm when we hadn't heard anything. What do you know, the phone wrang 5 minutes later and much to my surprise Liz, the nurse practioner from Mease was on the phone. Eric was talking to her and I could hear them. She was working over at All Children's and was assigned to Emma and would be following her through until discharge as her main practioner. You have no idea what this meant to Eric and I, it was very comforting to know that she was there with her. She made sure to tell Eric to make sure that I knew Emma arrived and she was settled in. We headed down there as soon as they hung up the phone. It was very overwhelming when we first walked in. She was in bed space 15, which meant nothing to me, until I saw it. The NICU is set up with 4 pods each holding about 8 babies. She was in pod 2 and the place was hopping. It was very busy and noisy. There was no privacy or dividers up between each bed space. The nurses were all very busy and had 2-3 patients each. 
At that point, I started to cry and realized that we made a mistake. We gave up the private room and 1 on 1 nursing for this? Liz came in and tried to settle me down and explained to me that it was going to be ok. Eric and I talked to the neonatologist, Dr. McKay, and he explaind what they were going to do. They had to do labs and echos and ultrasounds and everything that she had there, but now here. She was very puffy still and her admitting weight was 650 grams, which is a lot more than she weighed last night. They said that it was most likely water weight from her not peeing for a day or so and it could also be the difference in scales from one hospital to another. It took them a while to tuck her in and get everything done. Eric and I left for the night and headed to the Rondald McDonald house, which would be our new home for the next several weeks.
At that point, I started to cry and realized that we made a mistake. We gave up the private room and 1 on 1 nursing for this? Liz came in and tried to settle me down and explained to me that it was going to be ok. Eric and I talked to the neonatologist, Dr. McKay, and he explaind what they were going to do. They had to do labs and echos and ultrasounds and everything that she had there, but now here. She was very puffy still and her admitting weight was 650 grams, which is a lot more than she weighed last night. They said that it was most likely water weight from her not peeing for a day or so and it could also be the difference in scales from one hospital to another. It took them a while to tuck her in and get everything done. Eric and I left for the night and headed to the Rondald McDonald house, which would be our new home for the next several weeks. 
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