Strangely enough, the morning that I could finally see Ellie again I actually managed to sleep later than ever. It was 8am before I was up, and we'd missed Ellie's feed by the time we made it over to the hospital.
I couldn't get that protective gear - gowns, gloves and masks - on fast enough to get in and see her. I picked her up straight away, and I didn't even notice how sweaty I was getting in the gown and mask as I sat there rocking her. It may have only been 48 hours, but it had felt like a lifetime. With the added stress of her issolation, I don't know how I didn't go crazy.
It really was too hot to sit in there for the next three hours though, so we left to get some breakfast. This would be our second last breakfast in Hobart. The nurse had confirmed that Ellie would be moved from issolation that afternoon, and transported back to Burnie by ambulance in the morning. We were going home!
After breakfast we headed back to feed Ellie, and thankfully this time we didn't need the protective gear. Sarah came in just as I was about to start feeding, and she was a great help. Rather than telling me what to do, she just made gentle suggestions here and there.
When Ellie started to refuse and wriggle around I stopped focusing on her and was just talking with Drew and Sarah. When we looked back at the bottle she had all but finished her feed. Even now, after a million feeds, we still do better if I'm not overthinking it.
Shortly after her feed one of the younger paediatricians came in to do her newborn check. He was very thourough, looking at her eyes, mouth, hips, reflexes and everything in between. As soon as he removed her nappy she did a huge poo, and then as he was laughing and cleaning her up she did another! To everyone's surprise, and the poor doctor's disgust, she managed to squeeze a third effort out before he got the new nappy done up. It was hillarious.
Once she was happily sleeping we pushed her crib back through to the nursery. There was a rush to get all of her paperwork sorted out in time for her transfer.
I took care of her next two feeds, and then it was time to go back to the house and pack. Its amazing how much stuff we had gathered in 10 days, and it took us hours to dig out the last sock from under the bed and clear out our part of the fridge.
Sleep was hard to find that night. I was too excited about the prospect of spending the next night in my own bed again.
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