Has it really been a year?

A year ago today, we left these doors for good. The NICU is rough folks. Especially when your baby is on an extended stay. We had some dark times there. But being on the outside now, I've become so thankful for our time in there. It seemed like every day we learned something new. Sometimes it was bad and sometimes it was the best news ever. But all of it was necessary. We needed the 67 days to figure Davy out.

Yikes, look how yellow she was! I didn't realize it at the time, but girlfriend had jaundice bad.

Thanks to our awesome family we could have Our NICU date nights.

I hated all the tubes,wires, IVs and beeping things. Who can forget the large tube that sucked the large amounts of bile from her tummy. I know I will never forget when I spilled all that bile all over myself. There is nothing like the smell of bile.

This was her first surgery. She did not do so well after this. This was a very scary week. But through this we learned a valuable piece of information. We learned that Davy did not make the stress hormone(cortisol). This was lifesaving information. So I am actually thankful for this dark time.

Look how swollen she was! I remember her head swelling over her ears.

This was one of my best days. This was when My little girl came back. This was when I got to hold her again. So what if there were wires and IVs. They didn't seem so bad anymore.

Leaving for CHOC. We are still paying for that ambulance ride.

The one thing that I miss about the NICU was not having to deal with all the insurance crap. You need to see a specialist? Bam! The specialist is there. You need a test? How's tomorrow?No waiting for requests and authorizations. No hours spent in pleading phone calls on your child's behalf.

If your reading this and you have a baby in the NICU, let me tell you something................

I know life is tough right now, you will get through this, I promise. Get a journal and write everything down. Write about what nurses you had, what meds were given, your feelings, just write about everything, OK? I am so thankful I did. You really do forget a lot. Especially when your sleep deprived, emotional and still healing from child birth.

And people, if you have a loved one in the NICU, please go visit them. It gets pretty lonely in there. Maybe bring them a snack and a people magazine too.