Sunday, October 5, 2008

Homecoming


The day has finally arrived!  Henry is home!

He came home Friday, to my surprise.  The night before he had his 12 hour scan test where they monitor his vitals to make sure he isn't dropping his heart rate or his breathing and that it's safe to bring him home.  I was worried about this one.  But I'll save you the drama by saying that I didn't think he would pass and that it would be still more days before we could bring him home, but I walked into the NICU that morning and the nurse asked, "So, how would you like to bring Henry home today?"

You bet.

It took way longer than it should have, but finally, FINALLY, Henry was discharged and we could bring him home.


When it came to leaving, I had both Thomas and Anna with me, Henry in his car seat, and several bags of Henry's things to bring home.  They offered to have one of the care assistants meet me out front with Henry and his impedimenta and I happily accepted.  But I looked at Henry, sitting in his car seat, and I considered how many hours it had taken to get him discharged.  Then I picked it up and said, no, I had better bring him with me.  I didn't want to risk the hospital screwing it up and having to spend another 4 hours trying to get him out the door.  No, I was taking him with me.  I could leave his blankets and clothes behind, but I wasn't going anywhere without my baby!

As I drove out of the parking lot I thought of the weeks and weeks I had spent in the hospital (7) and the weeks and weeks Henry had spent in the NICU (5).  I thought about how Saturday would be the first day in months that I wouldn't be going to the hospital.  I remembered it all and I started to cry, though only a little because I didn't want to have to explain to Thomas why I would be crying.  So much has happened and now we can finally try to settle back into our new life. 

I've had a premature baby before and I know that the next few months will be long ones.  But for now I'm not going to worry about it.  For now it's enough that Henry is finally home and all is well again.



Henry and Thomas

















Henry and Anna (Henry is just over 5 lbs)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

yay!!! The kids look so cute with Henry. :)

I hope it is going well. I can't believe start to finish it was all about three months. I'm sure it felt like much more, to you.

Jennie C. said...

Oh! He's so small and perfect and it's so nice to see him with his big brother and sister! Congratulations, Sarah! I'm so happy for all of you! (As evidenced by my unusual use of exclamation points!)

Angoraknitter said...

yeah Henry is home! Oh I'm so happy for you! I'm happy for him too, it's got to be much better to be with his family all the time now. Love to you all!

Anonymous said...

Hurray! Hurray! Welcome home, Henry!

Anonymous said...

Hooray! I'm so happy for you all!

Striving Green said...

Congratulations...what a thrill!

Amanda said...

He looks wonderful. So happy for you all! Happy homecoming Henry.