There's no place like home.

All things considered, I think we're all doing pretty well.

Hester freaked out on Saturday when we got home--she kept peering around the house with a panicked look on her face. Clearly, she was like, "What the HELL? Where the hell am I?" We reassured her and held her and loved on her, but she was very uneasy. We were uneasy, too, but we just went with it. The worst part for us was when Hester was sleeping; when your baby's been on a monitor for 7 weeks, it's hard to let go and trust that she's still breathing. I found myself thinking, "I bet her heart rate's in the 110s right now, "or, "I bet her respiration is in the 50s now." Crazy stuff, but whatever.

By Sunday morning we'd all had a little sleep, though we were still pretty tired. Our visiting nurse came at 11am and said that Hester looked great, for which we were thankful, but man oh man is it weird to have your baby weighed on a professional scale on your own kitchen table. We spent the rest of the day putzing around, resting, visiting with L&Y who brought us dinner (THANKS L&Y!), and taking Hester on her first run to Target. We had our first diaper change in a public restroom and our first bottle on the fly. It felt great to be out and about with Hester!

Today we all slept in--Hester slept 7 hours last night!--and then we headed out to Hester's first pediatrician appointment. The NICU nurses and visiting nurse said that Hester would get her first shots next week, but surprise! she got 4 of them today. Hester cried, Petunia cried, and I cried. But a bottle and some Tylenol later, Hester was right as rain. We went out for the whole afternoon shopping for a rocking chair for Hester's room (we rapidly discovered that our current chair just doesn't work for feedings). We even went to Starbucks--Petunia and I had our customary espresso drinks and Hester had her usual soy formula. It was so strange to feel so normal with her. You know, not like a NICU family.

I hadn't anticipated all the sweet comments from strangers we got when we were out and about. I was ready for the assy ones, but not for the sweet ones, like, "Oh isn't she so precious!" or, "How old is she? She's just gorgeous!" It was really nice to hear those comments about our sweet little baby.

It's so nice to be home!

Hester sleeping in her own crib. Look Ma, no wires!