Happy 4th of July!

Seven long weeks after KelliAnne was born, she was able to declare her independence from the hospital today.  She has done everything required of her to show she can continue to thrive outside the hospital walls, so we were surprised this morning to the question asked of us by her doctor.  "Would it just ruin your day if we sent your baby home today?".  Robin and I looked at each other and started laughing because we have juse not allowed ourselves to get high or low with each glowing report received.

Just this last weekend she was doing so well that they told us she very well could be going home within the next week.  We kept this news pretty hushed for the most part, and the very next morning she was actually put back in an inucbator because she struggled to keep her temperature where it was supposed to be. This was a shock given 8 or 9 days were spent in an open crib without problems.  We rode that hurlde out, and after 48 hours in the incubator she had great weight gain, and they put her back in the crib.  She handled that well, along with eating all feedings by mouth (no more NG tube), and then we knew we were close to going home.

We stayed in the hospital with her on Monday night, but we were booted from the room the following day because a higher priority took our spot.  This was a bit discouraging because we thought they would not discharge her without us staying 48 hours in the hospital.  We stayed late at the hospital on Tuesday night, and arrived this morning, Independence Day, to the awesome question asked by the doctor.  Of course we said yes, and about an hour later we were out the door, baby in tow, looking to continue our adventre with a start as a family at our home.  The first order of business as a family was a long nap that was needed by everyone.

Here are a few pics of the most memorable 4th of July we will likely ever have.