Needless to say we didn't sleep all that well on Sunday night. We woke up early Monday morning and having to work was actually a good thing for both of us. It got our minds off of everything at least for a few hours. As we talked throughout the day, the reality and the excitement of this little girl started to set in. By the time we met at the hospital Monday evening I think we were really beginning to embrace everything. It was also on Monday night in a room in the NICU that we officially signed the papers. We had finally settled on a name as well. She was named after my great aunt who I have always adored. It is our prayer that our little H will grow up to know the Lord in the same way that my Aunt H has lived her life. Her name also is significant because of the the trials we have been through. God has shown upon us his favor and grace through blessing us with this little life. Our hope has always been in Him and in his promises that he has a plan for our lives.
We stayed at the hospital pretty late on both Monday and Tuesday night. They had told us we would be able to take her home on Wednesday afternoon. Each day we grew more and more excited to see her and bring her home, as we couldn't do a whole lot in the NICU except sit there and hold her. The staff at the hospital was so sweet and kind to us. They all seemed to really take a special interest in little H and our story. We had to go through "training" from the nurses and watch a couple of videos. They showed us all the basics from bathing to diaper changing to how to take her in and out of her car seat. My parents spent a fair share of time at the hospital with us but only 2 people could be back in the NICU at a time. My buddies John and Andy stopped by on Monday evening to congratulate us and were the first of our friends to see our new little baby.
Thankfully, A had Tuesday off so she began getting everything together. We hadn't done anything to prepare for having a baby for two reasons: One, we had only completed our home study 4 days before we got the call. We never expected it to be so quick. Secondly, we didn't want to get a room ready and buy everything not knowing how long the wait might be. It would have been a tough to walk by an empty nursery everyday just waiting for a call...
A and my mom spent most of Tuesday in "Babies R Us" trying to figure out what all we would need. They got all the essentials and our friends helped supply the rest. We were starting to feel like we really could pull this off.
I was meanwhile getting ready for my surgery that had been scheduled for that Thursday. Back on Thanksgiving I had torn my ACL and done some damage to my meniscus while playing basketball so I was having that repaired. This would be the busiest week of our lives! The timing was actually perfect. Not a coincidence but part of God's perfect plan. I would have to be off of work for a week to recover and this way I could spend that time with my new daughter. The challenge was getting everything set at school for my substitute teacher. Putting together 7 days worth of sub plans is any teachers worst nightmare.
The first half of that week seemed like an eternity filled with a million things to get done. But soon we would get to bring our daughter home from the hospital and start our new lives together as a family.
No comments:
Post a Comment