Finally Home

Today is the day that we have been praying for over the past days, weeks, and months. We were able to bring Colby home this afternoon. We weren't really sure if he was going to get discharged until the doctors came through mid morning. Colby's attending neonatal doctor that has been taking care of him since the day he was born was very happy to discharge us today. I would like to add that our overall experience at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital was nothing short of amazing. We spent a total of 12 days in the NICU and over those 12 days never had a negative experience with a doctor or a nurse. It is no surprise to us that the NICU was rated in the top 5% of children's hospitals in the country. We would like to thank the many nurses that cared for Colby for their unbelievable compassion and love for children. They played a big role in the peace that we felt during his stay.


Colby was able to come home without any surgical procedures, which is truly an amazing surprise. When we were originally told about Colby's condition, the doctor told us that there is a rare situation that occurs for a baby with his condition in which the baby does not require immediate surgery. Fortunately, we are that rare occurrence for the time being. He was also able to leave the hospital without any seizure medicine or antibiotics. He is taking a prescription for lasix which helps keep the fluid out of his lungs. He takes that medicine twice a day orally.... Not too bad considering the ride he has been on for the past 12 days.


The ride home today was a bag of mixed emotions. We were a little anxious to get him home, yet a little nervous since this was the first time he had been off all of his monitors. He was on his own. We were also anxious to get him home to meet his big brother. Since we did not get released until mid afternoon, Brody was taking a nap when we got home. This proved to be pretty good timing, b/c it allowed us to get into the house and most everything unloaded and or set up. When Brody woke up from his nap, we told him his little brother had come home. He looked up at Becca and said "Colby?" He came down stairs and saw his little brother sitting in a bouncy seat trying to catch a nap. He was soooo excited and gentle with Colby. It was truly more than we could have imagined. He wanted to touch and watch Colby all afternoon. Every time Colby made a sound Brody wanted to take him a pacifier. It was really cute watching him comfort his little brother. I am pretty certain he is going to be an amazing big brother once he realizes that Colby is here to stay.....



It has been such a blessing to have both of our boys home together this afternoon. We hope that we are able to keep them home together for 6 months before Colby has to go back to VUCH for surgery. We have been blessed in so many ways over the past 2 weeks.