November 16, 2003 was the day we took the girls home from the hospital for the first time, 2 months after they were born. We were so excited, nervous and I think shell-shocked about the fact that finally, after all of that time, we would all be sleeping in the same house, a complete family at last.
No more calls to the NICU before bed to ask the night nurse to say goodnight to the girls for us, or again first thing in the morning to see how they did overnight and what their weight gain was. No more racing to the hospital to get there before the doctors rounded. No more waiting to ask a nurse if we could pick them up, feed them, bathe them.
Hannah and Isabelle were finally ours.
It's hard to believe this happened two years ago. It's some times hard to even remember what those first few days at home were like (total and complete sleep deprivation probably didn't help). But one thing I won't ever forget is our first night at home, when we sat on the couch with the girls in our arms and just looked at each other. "We did it." With the help of our family, friends, and the amazing staff at the NICU, and with one another to lean on, B and I survived those surreal first days, the heartbreaking afternoon when we learned of Hannah's brain injury, and all of the other mind-numbing minutes and hours that made up the girls' 54 day stint in the hospital.
Two years later, this experience is such a core part of our family history that it's hard to remember what life was like before this. And yet, our life has expanded so much beyond that. It is a much brighter place since our girls came home.
Happy homecoming, Hannah and Isabelle.
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