Happy Homecoming!

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I can't believe it has been a year since we walked about of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Francis Children's Hospital.  We were a "NICU Graduate" as the nurses commonly refer to babies who have left the NICU.  We were putting her in a car and driving her home.  There were no nurses, no doctors, no monitors.  Just us.  And it felt so good, scary as hell, but so good!

I say it often but I'm not sure that the nurses will ever know how much they mean to us.  Yes, the doctors were wonderful too, but it was the nurses whom formed relationships with us.  They are the ones who after the doctor left after rounds and explained what the doctor just said so a 3 year old could understand it.  They were the ones who held my baby when I was sick and couldn't be there to hold her.  They were the ones who gave her shelter when we were under a Severe Tornado Watch that devastated Joplin, MO.  They are the ones who would text me in the morning with a picture of her wide awake and say "Good Morning Mommy!"  They are the ones who made us an anniversary card out of her foot prints.  They are the ones who were praying with us.  They are the ones I can never repay.

I will find myself thinking about Harper's birth and the events that surrounded it and I will feel my eyes welling up and I start to get very emotional.  For me the memories of our time there are still SO fresh and I remember everything; how quiet it always was, how cold it was, the calming voices of the nurses, the doctors footsteps during rounds, the beeps of her monitor, the pagers the nurses wore, how feedings were at 2a/p, 5a/p, 8a/p and 11a/p and the overall sense of peace and clam in the midst of the worst storm of our lives, to date.  Although it was rough and our outcome is far better than several families, we wouldn't change anything.  God brought those people into our life for a reason.  Period.

If you see a nurse or doctor, make sure you thank them and let them know that their job is appreciated.

Happy Homecoming Sweet Baby Girl!

Love you!

Mommy & Daddy