There's No Place Like...

She has arrived!

Well actually she arrived almost 3 weeks ago, but today, at about 6:30pm, Ezri Mae arrived at home...finally.

Ezri left the hospital weighing 5 lbs. 1/2 oz. She didn't have to come home on any type of monitoring or medication - just the standard iron supplement that all preemies get. They gave us all manner of instructions which was helpful since I'm sure most parents just get the baby and a friendly wave when they leave after a normal delivery. Not that we'll ever be happy about her time in the NICU, but all the extra "Here's how you don't break the baby" advice was very reassuring. The strangest moment of the day was as we were getting ready to leave the hospital and we asked the nurses when she had last had a bath. One of the nurses just smiled at us and said "She's yours. Give her a bath whenever you want."

So now we are home and trying to figure out what exactly one does with a baby. We can't leave the house obviously - at least not together - so we're just sitting and staring at her or cleaning, just because that's what we like to do. We've both made playlists on iTunes for her since she is used to lots of noise the NICU and needs the background. So far, she is eating just fine. They warned us that most babies don't eat as much the first few days they're home since they are overstimulated with trying to adjust to life on the outside. Speaking of adjusting, all of the animals have been fabulous - no licking or aggressiveness, just a few sniffs and then they stopped caring. Except for Trotsky, who has taken on the role of body guard to Ezri. He has hardly left her side since she got here and gets a bit snippy with us when we move her, but at least he isn't giving into any kind of sibling rivalry.

As for how we're adjusting, my biggest fear has been forgetting to feed her or dropping her but so far neither has happened.

We're gonna make it afterall.