Making the Transition

It was surreal. "Are you sure we can just walk out with our baby?" was the question that both Ania and I had on our minds. We were so used to visiting Colin in the hospital, then leaving without him. Not this time. This time, Colin ventured outside of the confines of the ICN for the first time.
It was an emotion-filled occasion. Bitter-sweet, for sure. Over the nearly 4 months Colin was in the hospital, we had really formed a bond with several nurses who took care of him - his primary nurses. It worked out perfectly though: starting friday morning, Colin had one of his primaries taking care of him. She handed off at shift change to another one of his primaries. A third came to visit him friday night (she only drove 45 minutes to come see him)! Then Saturday morning, Colin had his last 2 primary nurses with him. So, Ania and I got to spend time with and say our goodbyes to all of these special people who poured love into and took care of our special little boy. And of course, they all took the opportunity to give Colin their last bits of sugar! We can never thank enough these amazing nurses. I will use tomorrow's blog to thank them more appropriately.
As we gathered up our miracle bundle, we started heading to the exit doors. The doctors stopped to say goodbye, even other parents were cheering us on! It felt like we were starring in our own movie, and the credits were about to role across the screen. And then that was it. We walked out, took the elevator down, and walked out of the hospital all together and got into the minivan - much respect to the minivan! ;-) We documented the occasion with a few photos, and then we were off.
The ride home was smooth. Colin slept the whole way with Mommy by his side. We got home and got him settled in, and then it was just the 3 of us. No nurses. No doctors. No other screaming babies next to Colin in the ICN! Oh my goodness I felt sorry for some of those parents! ;-)
It was strange being home with him, but it felt so right at the same time. Our son was home, in his home. Taking care of him won't be easy, just like any other set of parents have with their children. We'll be sleep-deprived. But every time we hear a cry or a fuss or have to change those stinky, stinky diapers, it'll just be a fresh reminder of our awesome responsibility to take care of this precious baby. And I couldn't imagine it any other way.
I can't end this entry without saying that we had many friends call us yesterday to tell us congratulations. We had some special gifts and cards sent to us yesterday, and even had freshly-made dinner prepared for us and dropped off. It was all very much appreciated! But this is one time I have to single out one very special set of friends who went "above and beyond" welcoming Colin home: Aunt MBC and Uncle Lupe. As if a sweet card and fresh-baked cookies from them wasn't enough, they did something else for the 3 of us. I took a photo of the crime scene (posted) of what those sneaky little people did to our garage door. What a wonderful surprise! Thank you guys! I still can't believe you snuck in and did that! :-)