Leaving on a G-Tube, Don't know when I'll be back again

Ben will meet the Sun tomorrow...barring any issues or missteps in our parenting tonight, we should be released tomorrow.  The NICU requires the parents to spend the night with their baby prior to leaving.  He is still hooked up to monitors that the nurses can see from the other room...so we kind of feel like we are on trial, and worry we may fold under the pressure...we really want to go home tomorrow.

But what is it they say?  You can take the boy out of the hospital, but you can't take the hospital out of the boy...Our hospital/doctor days are not entirely over.  Our discharge is more like a work release, as Ben has doctors appointments scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Wendesday of next week.

Ben had his surgery on Wednesday to get his G-tube put in.  The combination of recovering from the surgery and the length of time they had to wait to feed him, brought out a new side in Ben:

Besides some good, healthy crying, he really has been much more alert and is cueing to suck and eat much more.  We are sorry it took poking a hole in his stomach to do it, but it has been so much fun to have him be so awake.  He is also enjoying showing off his new "tape-free" face, and his new found binky skills.

It has been quite the month in our family, but as we have learned we will become accustomed to saying: We have ended up just where we wanted, it just took a little more time and effort than we expected.  

That's okay...if this is where we end up...bring it on: