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| Levi (and dad Lucas), Conner (and papa Mark - don't let the beard fool ya), Luke (and daddy Brady) |
Since we were in the hospital FOR-EV-ER, we got to meet and get to know a lot of families, nurses, and doctors. The reunion gave us the opportunity to touch base with a lot of the people that became like family to us over the past year. The only problem.... not enough time to talk to everyone. But it sure was nice to see everyone, and their babies! Plus we got to rub in the fact that our Brewers are doing pretty well this summer!
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| Xavier, Luke, Levi, Conner, Landon |
It's amazing how much the little ones change once they leave the hospital. However, it was a bitter sweet day in some ways. I have to admit, it was pretty difficult seeing the other babies rolling, sitting up by themselves, playing with toys, and some even crawling. It's hard not to compare. Being in the medical field myself, I am always telling parents not to compare but to look at overall progress made by the individual child.... but boy is it hard to take my own advice sometimes. Conner has come a VERY long way since he was born. He was born earlier than most of the other babies. He underwent a lot more complications/surgeries than some of the other babies. And we were in the hospital longer than any of the other families we met along the way. I remember seeing families come and go. We were so happy they got to go home with their babies, but we were also sad to say bye to our friends. The reunion got to bring most of us back together for a short time. There were some tears, but mostly smiles.... lots of hugs and of course there was laughing! It was a fun day. We have a special bond with the other families from the NICU and always will. We all had different ups and downs along the way, but we all have one thing in common - our little miracles! I just have to remind myself, Conner is on his own time schedule and will be for some time, he will achieve great things, and will touch many lives. Boy are we pround of our little miracle!
Lindsey I completely understand where you're coming from and I know that has to be so difficult not to compare him to other babies! You and Conner are so so special and I cannot even put into words how amazing you two made me feel when I was feeling worse than I ever thought I could feel! You and your family were such an inspiration to me and you always will be! I know it is so difficult to be patient but God is good and has such huge plans for Conner! We think about you and pray for Conner every day! If you ever need to vent I'm here and you don't have to feel bad for complaining because I have my breakdowns every other week! ; ) you're doing a great job with him!
ReplyDeleteLove to you all! I can relate.. it does get easier with time.
ReplyDeleteI had the same issues with Paige after I brought her home from the NICU, she was way behind other babies her age in all the developmental milestones. What I couldn't see at the time was the UP side to that - Paige was a "baby" baby for a comparatively long time!!! Babyhood goes by SOOOO fast, so I got to enjoy her baby-ness for twice as long!!! Eventually she started hitting those milestones, but definitely on her own time-schedule, when she was ready and not a moment before. I swear it made them ALL THE MORE EXCITING!! Ya learn to celebrate different (possibly smaller) strides forward but it's not less of a celebration, it's more - and that's a blessing too!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed the reunion!! There was one special family that I connected with in the NICU and over twenty-one years later, we're still friends, still have that bond!
Hugs to the three of ya! Love, Aunt Eileen