HOME!

The day is finally here, after spending 65 days in the hospital Ariella is coming home. There is no way we can effectively describe this feeling. It is a swirl of excitement, apprehension, anticipation, joy, enthusiasm and just a bit of fear. Not fear as in we're scared to bring her home, more fear of the unknown. For the foreseeable future our lives are going to be completely different. There will be strangers in our house all the time taking care of our baby. There will be several nights a week when my wife and I will have to sleep apart because one of us will have to administer Ella's respiratory treatments over night. Every time we leave the house we will have to think about how long we will be out and what kind of medical equipment we will have to bring with us. We recognize that this is nothing new and there are many families that have to do this and have been doing it for a very long time. But we haven't and to be certain it will take some getting used to, but through Christ Jesus we can do all things. As Ariella's Nana Ruth Davis likes to say "God didn't bring you this far to leave you" and we know He hasn't.

As we prepare to transition over the next couple of hours from hospital to home we need to express our gratitude to the Connecticut Children's Medical Center staff and volunteers. During Ariella's stay at CCMC she heard live music from some very talented musicians. She received massage, occupational/physical therapy treatments, our family received a free photo shoot and during our baby's Christening someone generously donated the hospital's catering. While we won't go so far as to say there were times we forgot we were in a hospital, I will say CCMC did as much as they could to make our stay as comfortable and as safe as possible. We mentioned it briefly in another of the more recent postings, but it bears repeating. The hospital went to great lengths to ensure that Ella remained healthy during a very difficult flu system. To keep a child with a compromised respiratory system healthy and progressing during a brutal winter takes and act of God and the commitment of the entire hospital team. We do not take any of your efforts granted.

A final word for the team from MS 7. As we were preparing to move from the PICU to the seventh floor, a month and a half ago, we were somewhat crestfallen because we had come to love the PICU staff and recognize the unique level of care and support that our baby was receiving. In addition we had been so well taken care of by the team on the sixth floor during our previous hospital stays there was certainly some trepidation on our part when it came time to leave and move upstairs. Truthfully our expectations of the 7th floor staff may have been unreasonably high. Having said that I am happy to say we were more than satisfied with the care and support Ariella received from the nursing, respiratory and pulmanology teams. There were a few individuals that stand out and took extra special care of our baby; Mavia, Kristen, Lady, Shirley, Antoine, Heidi, Cindy, Becky, Theresa, Lisa, Dr Lapin, Dr Bleckner, Dr Collins and Dr Bhandari. Special shout-out to Lyndsey and Kim for hooking us up and Jodi for coming to mom's rescue. We are very grateful for all the care and support we have received at CCMC. You are wonderful people. Our lives, certainly Ariella's, have been made better from our time together. While we will certainly miss your smiles and care and concern we are so happy to say God Bless you and keep you, may Heaven's face smile upon you. WE ARE GOING HOME!