Love at First Sight....

Click the following links to catch up on Hunter's story, so far... it'll take a while to tell so we'll take it slow;

 

1) Our 2 pound, 13 ounce Miracle

 

2) "Jesus Told Me, Mommy!"

 

3) Our Home Away From Home

 

4) Miracle #2; "Jesus Lives in His Heart..."

 

 

We had been living in our Home Away From Home for 6 weeks when we heard the words we had been waiting to hear for so long... "Hunter can go home tomorrow!" We quickly packed up our stuff ... 6 weeks worth of stuff... and made arrangements to go home the next morning.... Joey's mom and my mom would make the drive with us.

 

I had made it a habit over the past 6 weeks to call the NICU every couple of hours during times when I couldn't be there... the nurses came to expect my calls and always gave me the most detailed updates on how he was doing; if you know anything about the NICU, it's that things can change in a flash... I would call and hold my breath, praying that nothing had changed in the time we were away from our baby.

 

The next day we had plans to meet Hunter's team at 10am for discharge instructions, to oversee all of his 'final' ultrasounds and blood work, and to talk to each of his many specialists before making the trip home. We also had to line up each of his follow-up appointments for the coming weeks with his new specialists. In true Lindsay fashion, I called the NICU at 9am just to check in (yes, even though we would BE there in less than an hour).... This time, Hunter's nurse asked me to hang on because the RN wanted to talk to me...

 

Uh. oh.

 

Joey and my mom were packing our stuff and getting ready to load it all in our cars... I caught Joey's eye and shook my head 'no'; I knew we wouldn't be taking him home that day, as planned.

 

The RN explained to me that Hunter had experienced dozens of Brady's and Apnea's throughout the night. A Brady is an extreme jump or plummet in heart rate... most of the time, Hunter would bring his heart rate right back up on his own but that night, he had required some stimulation from the nurses to help him bring it up. At times, he required extra Oxygen and most of the time, the Brady's were associated with Apnea's, where Hunter wouldn't breathe for 20 seconds or longer... these were the times that he needed direct stimulation. Our first concern was for Hunter's heart.... and we were assured that his Brady's were NOT heart-related but WERE symptoms of his soon-to-be diagnosis of Apnea of Prematurity... another result of his extreme prematurity and a sign that his body was still trying to catch up with him. Most babies grow out of their Apnea fairly quickly... but Hunter is most definitely not 'most' babies ;-)

 

Those times.... during an Apnea... were the scariest moments in all our time in the NICU.

 

Those are STILL the scary times.

 

We had already planned to bring Hunter home on an Apnea monitor as a precaution so if he experienced any Apnea's at home, we would know and would be able to get to him quickly if he needed help. We had completed training the day before so we would know how to use the monitor at home.

 

Because he had experienced so many Brady's and Apnea's the night before, Hunter's Neonatologist wasn't comfortable putting Hunter in a car for several hours so we could get home... as devastated as we were to learn we wouldn't be taking him home that day, Joey and I had also considered our worst-case scenarios the night before; what would we do if Hunter stopped breathing on the high-way? We had been required to take CPR at the hospital the week before.... but were we really prepared to do CPR on our own son?! And more...

 

We were somewhat relieved.

 

But we wanted desperately to go home.

 

We came to an agreement; Hunter's Neonatologist was 100% comfortable transferring Hunter to our local hospital, if he could be transported by air; the quickest way possible. Going directly to his new NICU would also give us time to meet his new specialists and to make sure we knew for sure, the exact reason for his Brady's and Apnea's... it would extend his NICU stay even more but the information we would get would end up being invaluable; as shown in Miracle #2!

 

He made a few calls and within 2 hours, a team of 6 Transporters made their way into Hunter's NICU room.

 

I had one request before Hunter boarded his jet...

 

He needed to meet his big sister.

 

Flu season, or not... Health codes, or not...

 

Our 2 kids, our 2 miracles, had been in each other's lives for 6 weeks and had yet to set eyes on one another.

 

We had also prepared Hannah the night before to meet her Baby Brother.... when we thought he was coming home. She was going to be completely broken if we had to leave our Home Away From Home without her Baby Brother...

 

 

 

 

Though Hannah still couldn't go in the NICU because of RSV and flu season, the Transport Team agreed to take Hunter out one of the front doors so Hannah could meet him on his way to his jet.... they were amazing! Joey and I helped Hunter get settled in his 'pod' on a stretcher, one of the team sang to Hunter, another team member asked me for his favorite pacifier, blanket, bottles, and anything else they might use to ease any anxiety he might feel as he ventured out of the NICU for the first time....

 

 

We then headed down the long NICU hall-way... the one we had walked thousands of times in the past 6 weeks... the one I ran down so I could call Joey and tell him about Hunter's first bottle feeding.... the one Joey and I ran down, both sobbing, trying to call our parents moments after hearing (one of the many times) that our baby boy wouldn't live much longer.... the one I met dozens of nurses, doctors, and social workers in who became my family... That hall-way.

 

 

But this time, Hannah was waiting at the end ....

(I was in a full run to catch up when I took this picture so it's blurry... can you see my mom holding Hannah?!)

 

And finally.... FINALLY.... Big Sister got to meet her precious, long-awaited Baby Brother for the very first time...

 

To our surprise, the Transport Team opened Hunter's pod so Hannah could touch him... to know he was real... so he would know she was there...

 

It was a moment that will be engraved in our minds forever....

 



 

And then....

 

They let her kiss him...

 

 

And we said good-bye.... for now....

 

 

What you can't see on the other side of this camera is the huge crowd of nurses, doctors, admin, social workers, and family who were gathered to witness Hannah and Hunter's first meeting.... they had all been waiting, too.

 

We weren't able to see Hunter in his new NICU until late that night but from what we heard, he was an angel for his first flight... and was in a full-blown tantrum over it when he met his new NICU nurse ;-) (We did know that he had strong lungs!)

 

 

We serve a big God who is capable of big things... He has saved this baby's life more times than I can name... He has used Hunter's still-short life to change lives... He has fulfilled every promised made to us in His Word; promises not to harm us, to give us hope, and a future (Jer. 29:11).... He has shown up over and over again to show us over and over again how faithful He is....

 

And Miracle #3 comes next :-)