Hugo Comes Home! Day 38-40

After 40 days in the NICU, on September 16, Hugo was prepared to come home! He certainly has a talent for showing us who runs the show. The week Hugo arrived I missed a significant work trip. The weekend Hugo decided to come home was the weekend of Nolan's halftime show with the Hawkeye Marching Band. Any other week or weekend during the third trimester would have been inconsequential. But we certainly have a lot of memorable moments and great stories to tell him when he grows up!

At the end of the first quarter the whole stadium turned to wave to the Children's Hospital and to Hugo for the last time. Nolan held up a sign for Hugo and the band chanted his name! Go Hugo!

I opted to wave down from the top floor of the hospital. Nolan's sign is a little difficult to read but we know what it says!

Nolan was surprisingly able to focus on conducting his halftime show with the Children's Hospital overseeing the action. Hugo was able to head home with a Hawkeye win over North Texas. It was an emotional time saying good-bye to the NICU. We were surprised at all the things we managed to pack into the room in the amount of time we were there. The staff have been so wonderful. We will miss their encouragement and their advice.

While Nolan and his parents left to get the cars out of the garage I stayed with Hugo. As we changed his diaper in the NICU for the last time the nurse pulled the leads off his little chest and feet and I started crying. She asked if they were tears of joy or fear. Both. I wanted Hugo to come home. I hated those machines. I hated how they would happily ding when something was wrong. They mocked me for not knowing what to do. But they were also a source of comfort. "How will I know he's okay?" I cried. As long as the machines remained silent I knew my little boy was all right.

Now that responsibility is ours alone. Everyone must feel this as a first time parent. We constantly check to make sure he's still breathing which is kind of silly because breathing was always one of Hugo's strong points. So far Hugo's chosen to be a rather good-natured baby and his time at home has been a sleepy joy. Feeding time requires a little coaxing but of course we'll keep to it.

After the initial shock of the new arrival, the rest of our little family has quickly started to cuddle up to Hugo. (But not cuddle too closely) The cats are probably most pleased that we are at the house a lot more than we have been the last 40 days. We're grateful to be home too. We have already learned and felt so much during Hugo's short time with us it's hard to believe the adventure is just beginning. The love and support that have been given to us has been so overwhelming and poignant. We are so grateful to all the people in our lives who have watched over us and Hugo during this time.