There's No Place Like HOME

This was after we laid her down for a nap...Billie pulled a chair over to her bedside and Matt and Blue joined her. I am afraid she isn't going to get any attention!
Billie and Harper together at last! This is the FIRST time Billie ever touched Harper or even got to see her without glass separating them!It was a beautiful moment. Billie is so in love with her sister. Billie sat down and read her a book first thing, and Harper just watched Billie. My heart is so filled up it might burst!
This was at 3am. Harper didn't seem to like being in her cradle much. She kept grunting or even crying until we picked her up. We fed her a few times, but she didn't eat much and if I swaddled her, she went right to sleep and was happy as could be. Harper doesn't cry much, usually, but she grunts all of the time! So cute!
Her first car ride! She loved it. Was very happy the whole way home. She fell asleep not long into it. For those who have not heard...things did change fast yesterday! Not long after I blogged, I got a call from Kary (one of our primary nurses at the NICU.) She said they were giving us the choice to room in or not, and if we were OK not rooming in, then we could go home TODAY! So I called Matt who had actually gone to Johnson City to play golf for his 20th High School Reunion. He and I both felt confident with our abilities to take care of her without rooming in first, so we opted to bring her home yesterday! Billie was actually in Johnson City with her grandparents and cousin Chandler playing on the lake, so Matt swung by there and picked her up. She was so excited! We left the hospital around 6 pm. Billie held her first when we got her home. I have a video of it that I will post later. Harper got hungry not long after that, so I fed her and then put her down for a nap. Billie pulled a chair up to the pac 'n play and just watched her sister sleep. It was just precious. Then later we were eating dinner together, and she said "I feel like this is all a dream and I am going to wake up and none of it will be true." She also read her sister a book - which she said she had been waiting to do forever. She already had a book picked out that she wanted to read to her - "Angelina Ballerina." As Billie read, I fed Harper a bottle and Harper kept her eyes locked on Billie the whole time. It was so sweet. They are going to be so close. I am so thankful to God for this amazingly perfect day! My family is all here together under one roof and it was beautiful! And we get to do it all over again today! It was bitter sweet leaving our family at the NICU. We had two primaries there to send us off, Betty and Kary. I cried as soon as we started the walk out of the NICU - it dawned on me that I would never be in that room again after spending 3 straight months there! As much as I wanted to be home with Harper, I fell in love with so many people there. As we made our turn away from our little corner and towards the door leading out, we could see down the long side of the NICU and all of the nurses looked up and waved at us and said "Good Bye!" It just warmed my heart and broke it all at the same time. When we got to the car, Matt and I didn't have the car seat in right, of course! The same thing happened when I took Billie home, LOL! But Kary helped us get it right. Then we hugged and said our good byes and then we were off! I will never be able to thank all of the people that had a part in Harper's miraculous recovery. God was in control, and He put them in Harper's life to care for her and help her get to this point. I will miss them so much, and I am sure Harper will, too. We will go back for visits, but it will not be the same. I just can't put it into words the love I have for them and the gratitude I feel for them. Praise God, He is good! And we are healthy, happy and HOME!