Home!

Six weeks to the day that Carolyn was born she is finally home. We left the hospital today around 10:30 am. We first had to spend the night at Wishard in a room on the old pediatrics ward. We had a chair hide-a-bed, a recliner and a table and two chairs. They moved Carolyn's crib from the NICU into the room. We had a big window with a roof view but that did not deter Carolyn to take a big long look out the window, since she had never seen the outside. It was a long night and it was not until 4:30 am until she fell completely asleep. We were awakened at 6:30 for a check from our shift nurse. I think we got about three hours of sleep total. She had been sleeping about four to six hours a night prior to last night. We think it was sensory overload from the change of scenery. This morning we did the normal things of feeding and diaper change and then just waited for the orders to allow us to leave. Kathy, our main nurse, took some photos for herself and for us. We packed up all of her stuff that she had accumulated in the last six weeks and headed for the door. Kathy indicated that she will be missed in the NICU but was happy to see us head home. We did stop off at Bethany to say thanks again and show Carolyn off to the adoption staff. Irene, our main counselor, made it into the office in time to get to feed her. She played it up for the crowd with smiles and coos. She slept most of the way home which let us know that she may like rides in the car to calm down and go to sleep. When we got home T.S. was the first to greet her. He was not sure what to make out of her and just took a couple of sniffs. Jasmine stayed in the back bedroom and Louie was indifferent. She has seen enough stuff drug home by us in the last 17 years that a baby is not that big of a deal. She got a tour of the house and a ride in her new swing, but for the most part it was a rough afternoon. Being tired and overstimulated is not a good combination. By the evening and another ride in the swing she fell asleep. She is still sleeping as I am writing this which has been for almost two hours. Now the fun begins. I am a huge Brad Paisley fan and bought his new CD on Tuesday. On the CD is a song called "Welcome to the Future" That is the way I think that Cindy and I both feel now. This is our new future I am not sure where this will take us but I know it will be a blessed and intriguing journey. I will try to keep everyone updated on our adventures on this blog. It won't be as frequent as the past six weeks but just enough to keep you coming back.

Now I am going to try to get some sleep. Wish me luck!

Troy