ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT'S ME....: OUR JOURNEY HOME..

Don't know why blogger won't let me post any post in paragraphs. I write them in paragraphs. Sorry for the long blog. It all started on Monday the day before Christmas. Jack and I went together to visit Mary and had a long talk with the nurses. Mary had been doing 6 nipple feedings and needed to move up to 8. The nurses felt she was ready for it. We were very excited and ready to see what could happen. Never in a million years did we believe it would happen as fast as it did. We kept calling and checking in after each feed, and she had been very successful. So, for us our hopes for getting closer to home were looking up. It was still a very hard day knowing it was Christmas Eve and we were not going to be going to church as a family and back home to celebrate together. On Christmas morning we got up and did Santa with Maggie. I think each year Santa gets better and better. I know one year that excitement will no longer be the same, but I want to hold on to the joy I see on her face now forever! After we ate breakfast and cleaned up, Jack and I headed to the hospital to which we received our Santa gift. We walked in to find that Mary's tube was no longer in. It had been 40 days since she was born, and seeing her without that tube was the best gift ever. We knew at that point we had 48 hours for her to have successful feeds, and then we could be out of there. Again, we had to leave her to continue to celebrate Christmas. Jack and I would call after each feed to check in. When we called after the 8PM feed we were told our Christmas present would be coming home the next day. We stood in shock and excitement. Could it really be happening, and happening that fast? The morning after Christmas the ground was still covered in ice. We knew we had our car seat test at 1, so I decided to go in for the 11AM feed. When I got there it was as if things started so fast. I feed Mary and then immediately after that she started her car seat test. At that moment I had a complete melt down. As much as I wanted her home, I didn't know if I was ready for it. We had nothing prepared, in our minds we had 48 hours and it was happening faster than expected. The sweet nurses in the NICU really calmed my fears. They knew the right words to say to convince me that we were really ready. I knew we were, but the fear of taking something so fragile home made me a nervous wreck. Mary was to complete a car seat test. She had to sit in the car seat for 2 hours and hold an oxygen level about 90%. During that time I left and went home to get some things wrapped up and ready for her to come home. Jack had done a great job of washing bottles, and setting up our necessary items that we needed. At this point we still didn't have a single diaper in the house for her. Wow, did we have a lot to do. Around 1:30, we got a phone call we didn't want to hear. Mary had failed her car seat test. The only way to get her home was to take another car seat up to the hospital for her to try and let her take the test again. So, almost $200 dollars later Mary has a fancy new car seat that she was able to pass in! It was 5:00PM and we were headed to the hospital to pick up our little girl. It was amazing to see the look on Maggie's face as we rolled out the two double doors of the NICU. Maggie just sat and poked her sisters face. She repeated over and over, " That is my baby sister!" It was amazing that we were about to start our journey as a family of four together. We managed to get home and get settled in. It was time to start our first official night together! Mary's new car seat! She fits so well!