That first breath of real air

I survived my night alone with McKay, and I'm happy to report it went much better than expected. I was just nervous about the oxygen, the heart monitor, breastfeeding him, weighing him, then tube feeding, then pumping. But it went fine, and he slept great through out the night!
Kyle came the next morning to pick us up. He brought a bunch of treats from Kneaders to tell all of the Nurses and Doctors a very big thank you. I think it was a big hit! One of our favorite Doctors came down to say good bye to us. (Love her!) She did say "I'm sorry you guys were here so long, we really didn't think you would be." She was actually one of the doctors who first saw him and admitted him. They originally told us 4-6 weeks. It ended up being 6 weeks and 4 days (but who's counting!)
The doctor came to check him out one last time and gave us one more chance to ask questions (as if we have not asked over one million in the past few weeks!) But he gave us the okay and the clear to go.
This is our favorite nurse Jennifer! As you have heard before, it is all about the nurses. This could not be more true in the NICU! She was fabulous and answered so many questions and was always there for moral support. She had such a bond with McKay, every time I saw her with him she would just hug him and hold him for longer than most of the nurses. She made things so much easier and more bearable!

So we got all of our stuff together and got McKay in his car seat. I was walking down to the car with Jennifer and she said "It's his first breath of real air, not hospital air." It hit me kind of hard, he is over 6 weeks old and has only seen the hospital. I was so glad to be taking him home! We got him in the car and we were off. I admit I turned the radio off just so I could hear him breathing the whole way home and make sure he was okay!

I am so grateful for everyone at the NICU and all of their care and concern. Kyle and I joke about the fact that every day when a different Doctor would see him they would have something different they were concerned about. But we never felt like they were not fully invested into McKay. (One of the doctors even told us he called some of the other doctors while he was at a convention in Florida, just to check up on McKay. How we loved "Frenchie"!) We had amazing doctors, nurse practitioners, and nurses. The NICU is an experience unlike any other, and until you really have gone through it you really will not know what I am talking about. I am glad for the lessons we learned from this experience, but I am even more glad that it is over.