...And Then We Came Home

We made it! Hours and hours in the NICU...culminating in an overnight last night ('rooming in' they call it) to make sure we know how to do everything ourselves- and we came home late afternoon today. Dec. 12, 2007 we finally have our baby home.
Right now mom is sleeping in the bedroom with baby in the cosleeper next to her. So many people of all stripes and relations have pitched in to help with our little Amelia- an overwhelming parade of giving and kind people who have given us their baby items, money, time and prayers. I am not even going to attempt a list- y'all know who you are. I'm a gonna go get some sleep here soon but I did want to post some vids from the NICU and some from today so here goes...


The above vid gives you some idea of what it is like to have one's baby in the NICU in an incubator. It is rather scary at first and honestly I never was able to fully relax with all the wires, tubes and alarms. But it does get less scary with time. For a couple of days the nursing staff played awful cheesy Christmas music for some inexplicable reason. But it drove us nuts and we were so glad when it was finally turned off. It was so bizarre since they were always emphasizing the importance of peace and quiet and no unnecessary stimulation. However, overall we were impressed with the care Amelia received and the attentiveness of the staff.




This is a very quick video that I am posting so that I will never forget how much I hate those Brady Alarms. They went off when Amelia's heart rate dipped to potentially dangerous levels. They were always frightening. In this vid I was just about to start a cute shot when she had a Brady. Thankfully she continued to have less and less as time went on and now only has them very rarely and always self-recovers. And since we have no heart monitor at home we won't even know about them thank God.




So this might fall under the category of 'too much' but alas we are parents now and I haven't the time, energy or inclination to edit these videos (a la Josh or Chris) so you just get the unedited, unvarnished, and probably rather boring videos if the child in question is not yours. So here, unapologetically is 1min 57 seconds of Amelia Jane with momma putting her in some new duds.
If you want sound tracks and humor and cool camera work I recommend the Bottings or Neufelds blog.






Minutes before we leave....Laura drops something. I capture the excitement on video.




An exciting getaway from our hospital imprisonment. Awesome camera work by Laura.




Roughly an hour before our 'escape'. Fight: Who gets to feed Amelia? Winner: Seth. Prediction: Definition of 'winner' will change very quickly now that she is home. The excitement! The tension! The drama! More videos to come! Amelia squeals! Amelia poops! Amelia! Amelia! Don't touch that dial!!




And finally, lil Amelia asleep in the cosleeper at home where she belongs and where she will only leave when she is 24- to join a convent of course. As if we would ever let her date...she is...our precioussssss...