I apologize from the bottom of my heart to leave y’all hanging about our homecoming from the hospital!
It has been CRRRRRAAZZZZYYYYY.
Life with the Happy Baby home is so wonderful – so perfect and so right.
But it’s also a lot of work! Phew! Poor lil’ guy came marching out of the hospital with a list 8 miles long of follow-up appointments and pediatrician visits. Not to mention the care and attention of a feeding tube. Not to mention the hours of snuggling and cuddling and never-letting-going. 🙂
In between these things, I have been slowly uploading some unbelievable photos for you (taken by my incredible friend, Bobbilee) of our discharge experience.
I hope you get a glimpse of the joy our Happy Home felt that day as we broke free from the hospital and set sail into our new normal as a party of 4. 🙂
The Happy Baby’s final nap in his hospital crib.
So excited to see this thing go – this little alarm kept me from kidnapping my buddy on the hundred different occasions I tried to plot an escape.
I am informing the Happy Baby of his release. 🙂
The nurse gives us some last minute instructions on how to use the feeding tube.
The Happy Buddy thought it appropriate to celebrate his brother’s homecoming with a carton of chocolate milk.
I had been planning for the Happy Buddy to wear this outfit on this oh-so-special day.
He was super excited to finally fulfill his calling as the most amazing brother ever.
I’m not going to lie, I am pretty proud of this cart full of frozen milk bottles the hospital has been storing for me the last 3 months! I have been working hard!
My sweet mom took charge of figuring out how to transport all that liquid gold to our house.
The handsome star of the show getting dressed for his first appearance outdoors.
Love.
I will do anything for this little dude – even if it means holding his paci in for hours at a time.
Our first family photo.
Brothers.
Bliss.
All together now.
First time in his car seat!
Headin’ on out…
The security guard stopped us and we had a ceremonial cutting of the cord – the super stylish hot pink bracelets the hubs and I have had to wear for the last 3 months.
FREE AT LAST!
Everyone’s strapped in, buckled up, and the Happy Buddy is ready with a book to share with his new back seat companion.
It’s a good thing I had my seat belt on because I am pretty sure I would have sprouted wings and flown away.
This is the feeling of sweet relief and bright hope for tomorrow.
As we pulled away from the curb the Happy Hubby said a prayer (with his eyes opened, of course :-)) thanking God for giving us strength to see that season of our lives through.
And he prayed for our tomorrows because we know that the story of the Happy Baby – his health, his prognosis, his life – has just begun.
The future is not known, but our God knows.
And we will press on in that glorious freedom.
🙂
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19
*Thank you, sweet Bobbilee – best. gift. ever.*
Oh, Lord! Thank you for this beautifully illustrated and joyful chapter of the story You are writing in the Brasington family’s lives.
PS…can you tell I’ve been praying, and wondering wondering wondering how things were going, and DYING for this post to appear?! YAY!
Beautiful post, beautiful family! God is sooo good! Rejoicing with you and will continue to keep your family in our prayers!
P.S. Way to go on that milk supply! AMAZING!! 😀
I am very happy for you that your whole family is now at home. A friend of mine is going through something similar with your experience. She had to have an emergency c-section about three weeks ago because her blood pressure was very high. Her daughter was born at 24 weeks and is finally gaining some weight but I can only imagine how she is handling all of this. I am sharing your inspiration with my friend maybe it will bring her some hope. Thank you, Kasey
First of all… YOU look amazing!!! Second, that baby is the cutest piece of sugar I have ever laid eyes on!!!!! Third of all, joe d’s is where my son was taken when he was a few days old (then a free weeks later…) with his heart condition! I hated very second of it, but love every ounce of that children’s hospital! They were so great and some of the best nurses EVER.!!! So excited for you all!!!!!!
I’ve been there to, when nicu let us take our child home..Enjoy! Your little guys are just so sweet!!
I am so happy for you and your family. How wonderful to finally all be together. I know that you still have many lingering questions about your little man’s health, but I can imagine that it must be much easier to face them when you’re all under one roof.
THANKS FOR POSTING ALL THE PICTURES AND THE WRAP-UP OF THE EVENT…….. BREAKING FREE OF THE HOSPITAL. PRAYERS ANSWERED AND STILL MORE TO BE ANSWERED. MAY GOD BLESS YOUR FAMILY AND GIVE YOUR PRECIOUS LITTLE MIRACLE A JOYFUL JOURNEY TO GOOD HEALTH AND STRENGTH. WE LOVE YOU ALL!
I don’t think I’ve ever commented on your blog before, but I have been reading it for awhile. This post brought tears to my eyes ~ I am so thankful that you are all home together as a family now. I am keeping you all in my prayers. 🙂
Soooooo happy that the happy family is home together!! I know the Lord will walk each step of the way with you 🙂
What a joyous homecoming!!! Your sweet baby is so beautiful! And so is his big brother! God has wondrous plans for you all! Praying always!
I love how devilish Noah looks in the pic with his brother in the backseat next to him–it’s like he thinks you really were kidnapping Jet! ;o) So glad he’s home!!!
Those photos are so precious. Don’t you know that the Happy Baby was amazed at all the new things he saw the day he left the hospital? Your milk stash is ah-maz-ing!!! That’s real mommy love. Your hair looks awesome. God’s blessings to the four of you. Hugs and prayers!!!
Julie, thank you for this sweet update and such precious photos…God is so good 🙂 The journey ahead is unknown but how blessed to know it has passed through the Father’s hands first. God has given you and Ryan the blessing of two beautiful boys. Soak up these days! I’ll be praying for God’s perfect peace to guard your hearts and for His right hand to up hold you. “God is in every tomorrow, Therefore I live for today, certain of finding at sunrise, Guidance and strength for my way; Power for each moment of weakness, Hope for each moment of pain, Comfort for every sorrow. Sunshine and joy after rain.” from Streams in the Desert. Love, Marla
Thank you for the update, I am so happy for you, your usually big smile is even bigger. Your pictures are so awesome. We love you all.
Tears of joy! Love love loved seeing these amazing pictures!
WOW, this post brought some serious tears to my eyes. So glad you guys are home.
Tears of joy for you!! This post so perfectly showed your emotions and what an awesome day this was! And Happy Baby is adorable with those blue eyes!!
I was thinking about how you hadn’t posted as I fell asleep last night. So I prayed for you all. Praise the Lord for this time. May He be there for all your days, the highs and the lows! What a blessing that you had someone to take pictures so you could be “in the moment” and still have photos to remember it all!
Dearest Ryan and Julie, We are so thankful for all that God is doing in your lives. It is a joy to read God working and moving in you through the life of this precious baby. His grace is seen so vividly in your desire to glorify Him in all your words and actions in the midst of a trial bigger than you ever could have imagined. We love you guys and are so happy for you! YAY! The happy baby is home!!! WOO HOO! Praise the Lord! Love, The Causeys
Oh, I am bawling!!! You are all a LIGHT for Jesus. That handsome addition is soooo blessed to have you as a mommy! Continually praying for you all.
I have tears in my eyes as I see all these wonderful photos! I could not be more happy for you, I am just so thrilled this day has finally come! You just enjoy all 3 of your boys and delight in every minute. Thank you God for answering all our prayers!
What a gift those pictures are! Just wonderful, for us and for you to have. Praying and praising that He’s making a way for you!! Lots of love coming from the Groves family, from California to Kentucky to Florida!
My almost 2yo (who would have died within days of birth without modern medicine, too) knows facebook as the place with “baby” pics. So when he asked for “baby” just now, I brought him here to see your Happy Baby! 😀
Julie, Ryan and Happy Buddy,
How wonderful that the Happy Baby finally got to go home. I’m sure it will be exhausting nand yet exhilerating at the same time. Many continued prayers and much love to the Happy Family!!
Hallelujah! We are so thrilled!
So happy for all of you to be home together, and praying that the transition goes smoothly. Thank you for sharing all those gorgeous photos! Your testimony and smiling faces blessed my day.
This post made me cry with joy for your family. So happy for you all and so grateful to God! Love, the Koz;s
The pictures brought me to tears. I’m beyond excited to see your beautiful family together and at home. I know the blessings will continue.
So happy for you! What a joy to read this post. Made my day! Pray that everything is going well, that you all are adjusting to life at home, and that baby is healthy and happy! Congrats!
happy happy joy joy!!!! hooray for your happy family.
What a great post… and what great pictures to document all of it. I’m so happy for your family to all finally be together at HOME!! Continuing to pray for you as you walk this unplanned journey. Thanking God for your faithful example and praying for strength for you all. He is absolutely one of the cutest little babies I’ve ever seen! That smile and those eyes… I’m sure you’re just eating him up now that he’s home with you! Congratulations! (and way to go with all that “liquid gold” you were able to store up!) 😉
Wow! What GOOD NEWS to hear upon our return!!! We are soooo happy and excited to see God’s blessings in your lives! Can’t wait to meet that handsome boy of yours! 🙂
Hope you are all doing well at home, where you all belong. Please keep us updated on the baby’s condition, all of us at the hospital continue to pray for you and your family.
This is a fabulous post! Thanks for sharing with us. The picture with all the milk is just so amazing to me! I must say I think it is so wonderful you are so dedicated to pumping. Way to go!
Praying for your family and your baby boy.
Bethany
I’m still catching up on some saved e-mails (and I always save the HHF!) and just read this. WOW. So sweet and so amazing to see what God has done. We are anxious to see what He will continue to do. You all continue to be in our daily prayers. Love, Justin and Rebecca Beam + Madison, Michael and Matthew : )
I am in tears reading of your coming home! My daughter who is now 23 months was in and out of the hospital from 7 weeks old until 11 months. She originally stopped breathing at her first nursing and it went downhill til she was 4 months old and got a ng tube. She was only on it for about a month when they refused to do a g tube and i refused to have her same issues KEEP happening even with the tube. ANYWAYS reading this post reminding me of all the hard times i went through with her in the hospital and how much of a sweet relief it is to have her home and better. She still has to have all liquids thickened and an mbs done every 4 months but she has amazingly just reached a YEAR of NO HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS! PRAISE GOD! I hope your little man continues to do well and im goingto keep you all in my prayers! God bless you momma!