Desperate times call for desperate measures

While Claire was recovering at Duke, she had some special vistors.  I have mentioned some but have not mentioned the others.  They include Mr. and Mrs. Griffin and Claire and Melissa.  Melissa was my college roommate.  Last time she planned to come visit Claire was like the day before she was discharged from the NICU.  She came yesterday and Claire was discharged a few hours later.   I have decided that the next time Claire is admitted to Duke that Melissa needs to plan to come see her very soon so we can get discharged!  :)

I have also decided that our almost 5 month old is smart.  She recognizes things and associates things.  For example, she had been poked so many times in her arm that when I took her hand to wash it the other day, she broke down and screamed so terribly.  She thought I was going to poke her.  Even when the doctors would walk in to check on Claire, she would be perfectly fine.  She would see them and scream like a holy terror.  It was so bad!  She has learned that being at Duke equals pain most of the time and she is scared.  I could see it in her eyes.  It was so sad. 

So needless to say, after open heart surgery and a week in the hospital being poked and examined with no sleep, our little girl had enough.  Yesterday when we were leaving Duke she started being fussy.  I had to wait in the outpatient pharmacy to pick up some meds for her and thought it wouldn't take long.  I was wrong.  So I had to call Amanda to come pick her up as she was waiting for us to meet her so we could go home.  So she picked up Claire to ride her around and soothe her while I waited for the meds. 

When Amanda came back by to pick me up, Claire was screaming in the back seat.  Amanda said every time she drove, Claire hushed and when she stopped at the light, Claire screamed.  This is what overtired looks like I guess for a baby.  So we finally got her calmed down and asleep until we got to Julie's house about 45 minutes later.  She was happy there and good to go - or so I thought. 

My mom had met us there to drive me and Claire home.  We put her in the car around 4 pm and didn't get home until 7 pm - a trip that normally takes 1.5 hours took 3 hours.  Claire screamed and screamed unconsolably about 95% of the drive home.  We stopped at several locations along Hwy 70 including a butcher shop and a gas station.  Finally at the gas station in Dover we decided there was nothing that was going to make Claire happy except for me to hold her.  If I tried putting her back in her car seat, she would start screaming again.  This is NOT like our child!  But I knew she just wanted to be held and comforted.  It had been a long week for a little baby (and her family).  So as Claire and I were in the back seat both crying, my mom suggested I just hold her as we drove home.  Yes, we broke the law.  But as the title states, desperate times call for desperate measures.  I am 100% sure we would still be sitting in the gas station parking lot right now if we had not done this.

So she slept in my arms the rest of the ride home and had a good night once home.  Big Daddy met us at home and carried her around and she was perfectly fine.  Grandma Neat Neat, who had heard her screaming on the phone, said she wouldn't have believed me if she hadn't heard it for herself since Claire was like a totally different baby since being home.  CRAZY. 

So today she has been a little fussy and clingy, but who wouldn't be after what she's been through.  So I have held her most of the day and now Neat-Neat is holding her upstairs so I can get some things done around the house.  I hope to give her a bath tonight to wash that hospital smell off of her and maybe she will forget it for a while.  I guess until we go back next week..... :/

Below are some pictures of the screaming Claire and the happy Claire at home.  There are also some pictures of the sign that met us on the way home.  The sign is at the church Trent grew up at in Rhems on Hwy 17 and is a sign in memory of Claire's Granddaddy.  It was a relief to see the welcome home sign once again yesterday evening.  The pictures are not the best since I took them with my phone. 


Love,

The Scott Family

before getting home

after getting home