To say we underestimated how difficult our first week home would be, would be an understatement. We thought 30 days in the NICU was incredibly difficult, but nothing compares to this past week. The upheaval that bringing a newborn home normally is to routines, sleep, etc. was multiplied by 1000 with our Dottie girl. 

We brought Dottie home in the midst of sickness in our house. Although the timing was perfect for us to all be together for Christmas, it was terrible when it came to our health, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I was still on the mend and trying to catch up on sleep after catching my second cold in my first 30 days postpartum. Charlie and Mike were both recovering from what was likely the flu. Dottie girl was essentially confined to her room in order to keep her from getting sick. Bless my amazing mom for basically moving in for a few days and helping us keep our heads above water. We could not have done it without her. Christmas did not look exactly like we had hoped. But, we were all together and by Christmas morning, Charlie was healthy enough to finally hold his baby sister. 

We’ve stumbled through these past few days after Christmas, working to figure out what works best for Dottie girl and for us. Again, it’s not exactly as we had anticipated or imagined, but we are finally starting to feel settled. Each day brings new challenges to work through, but we’re doing it together, we’re doing it at home and not in the NICU, and slowly but surely we are figuring it out.

God winks from this past week:

Tonight, we all wear our scarlet and grey and say, “Go Bucks!”