We are home!

Whew!!  We are home, adjusting to life with Reed, and TRYING to sleep when we can!  It has been a crazy 6 weeks!  We were able to go home from the ISCN (Intermediate Special Care Nursery) on Friday, September 23rd.  It was exactly four weeks after Reed was born (his age was 37 5/7 weeks).  When the Nurse Practitioner told us that we would be going home, Bennie and I were slightly shocked (originally expecting to go home on Saturday or Sunday), nervous, but mostly, extremely excited to embark on new adventures with Reed and to show him the world beyond his hospital room!

While in the hospital, Reed was cared for by an AMAZING nursing staff.  We really liked (almost) all his nurses!  One of our favorite nurses was Angie...she was the nurse who took care of Reed when he was first admitted to the ISCN (directly after birth).  She also cared for him a few times every week.  Angie was very helpful to us and always seemed to know exactly what we needed...whether it was information regarding Reed's health care needs, helping me with breast feeding, or just chatting with us for a few minutes to help keep our mind off the stress of the hospitalization, Angie did it all! :)  She was willing to listen to our concerns and was there to share our tears of happiness.  We couldn't have asked for a better nurse or overall hospitalization.

Here is a picture of Reed and Angie during her last shift with us...

In order to leave the hospital, Reed needed to tolerate a variety of tests with stabilized vital signs.  One test was a 90 minute car seat trial.  He was strapped into the seat and had to show us that he could maintain his respirations, heart rate, and oxygen saturation within healthy parameters for a full 90 minutes.  Since this was the first time his little body sat in this position, he was a bit uncomfortable at first, but quickly adjusted and passed the test!

Here is a picture of Reed chilling during the car seat trial.

We were ready to head home!!! Notice Reed's "Jail break" outfit?!?  He got the stripes from my friend, Julie!  We all thought it was a PERFECT outfit for Reed! :)

Getting buckled into the car...




And finally..... HOME!