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Hi everyone,

Yes, we made it home. For real. I still can't really believe we have a baby. In our HOUSE! Whoa. The car ride home yesterday was uneventful, with Willow sleeping in her car seat the whole way. Before I talk about home, though, I wanted to share a few pics of Willow's last day in the NICU. Everyone was happy for us but sad to see her go. As nurse Allison said, "the NICU is losing its mascot!"

As happy as we were to leave, it was a little sad too. We will miss a lot of the nurses and other staff. Some of our favorite nurses weren't around the past few days so we didn't get to say good bye. Also, Dr. Frei, Willow's main doctor, was off, so we didn't get to say good bye to her either. We're so thankful to all of them for the great care Willow got at MGHS. We'll miss all of you! We'll be back to visit and we'll send pictures.

Here's Willow looking out the window at the world she's about to meet:



Bye bye, NICU!




Bye bye, lactation/pump room. It's been real!



We were glad we had nurse Kathy for Willow's discharge day. She's been one of our favorites.



Could we look any happier??






When we got home, there was a sign and some balloons for Willow. We still don't know who's behind this but we have some suspicions.


Emily stopped by and we sat on the patio and decompressed. :)


I couldn't wait to try out the sling.



Turns out, Willow absolutely loves it! Bonus: the physical therapist at the hospital said slings are extra-beneficial for preemies, who tend to have "high muscle tone". The sling causes them to curl up and bring their hands the "the midline", which is good for them.


Our first night was pretty good! We got a reasonable amount of sleep. She didn't cry. We took turns waking up to feed her. We set the alarm to make sure she got fed every 3 hours or so. I guess that might sound like the opposite of what a lot of parents do when their baby is new. Most people want their kid to learn to sleep through the night, I think. But it's so important for Willow to keep gaining weight, we are going to try to stick to the every-three-hours, 155-mLs-per-shift feeding schedule of the NICU, at least for awhile. So far she's done good with her feedings and has been eating the amounts she should.

Today has been remarkably chill. We woke up and sat Willow in her little bouncy chair while we ate some bagels, then Josh left to run a bunch of errands, and I've just been wearing Willow around in the sling while catching up on stuff around the house, taking occasional breaks to feed and change diapers. It's not nearly as stressful or chaotic as I expected. It's a little chilly outside, so we haven't been on a walk other than around the yard. Willow's not hooked up to her monitor while in the sling. She's close enough to me and I'm keeping an eye on her, so I think I'd notice if she stopped breathing or had a brady. We had the monitor on her last night though. It went off twice, but it was the alarm that means a lead is loose due to wiggling, not the alarm that means she's having an event.

Scouty's reaction to Willow was about what we expected. I tried to get her to come over and meet Willow and I thought she'd at least give her a sniff and then turn away, but she refused to even look at Willow or sniff her. She been doing a lot of sighing. Last night, every time Willow made any noises, Scout would let out a huge sigh. Daria seems to be scared of her.

Josh mentioned in yesterday's blog about keeping Willow isolated. That doesn't mean people can't come visit. Just call first, and don't come if you're sick, or have been around any sick people, or feel like you might be getting sick. Also, no little kids, please. They're too germy. :)

Well, I better get going. Lots of stuff to do!

This is awesome!!!!!!!!