The day has finally arrived for us to bring our baby home and we are over the moon thrilled. We are here on day 38 of our NICU journey, and we are totally ready and prepared for our son to join us in our home. His bassinet is set up, his changing table is ready and we have all the diapers, clothes, blankets and other accessories he needs to thrive and grow into his strongest possible self. We feel blessed that Asher's nicu stay was stable and uneventful. He arrived into this world earlier than we would hoped or expected, but he is a healthy young man ready to take on his next challenge and down his next bottle. He is tiny but he absolutely has the strength of a warrior.
It's an exhilarating feeling to know that my son will be here in our bedroom tomorrow. There is no greater comfort than his health and strength, and joining us outside of the hospital is a sign of his will to become a totally epic person just like all the other healthy babies out there. We can see it in his eyes that he's ready to go too, but he will certainly be sad to leave all of his loving nurse friends from the nicu.
Life is beautiful. Being around a baby is a magical experience that reminds me of the fragility, potential and joy of life. It's so humbling to remember that we were all once babies, every single one of us. Helpless and reliant on others to nourish and enable us to grow. It is both inspiring and sobering to realize that there are so many babies who need help every day around the world. A lot of those babies make it and grow to become incredible people, and sadly some of those babies struggle and might be too sick to make it. When Julia and I first heard that Asher might be a nicu baby, we were terrified and panicking. We read studies that said he had a 0% chance of survival and even if he did survive he would most likely have some type of severe condition that needed continual monitoring and interventions. That was scary, and a part of that will live with us forever. Asher has been healthy so far which is a miracle in every way, and we are still going to nourish him in every way we can. I know that we both care so much that even though we are not people to worry about much, it will be really hard to not worry about our baby. I know this is true of almost all parents, and it's something that I'm going to work on. Because ultimately Asher will be who he will be, and we will love him completely however he is. So worrying needlessly in the meantime will only bring unnecessary stress. I think that instead we can set an intention to have faith that everything will work out. It always does.
It's a hyper emotional day for us. April 11, 2021. The day we bring our baby boy home. The day we become full time parents, forever. The day we start a new chapter full of excitement, anticipation and cuddles but also a chapter almost entirely lacking in sleep. It's a day where we say goodbye to the many nurses we have become friends with, and I don't know if we'll ever see them again, although I hope we can stay connected. We feel so deeply grateful to all of these caring, supportive, loving, kind and healing nurses who saved our son's life and nurtured him until we could safely nurture him ourselves. It is an incredible world that Asher could be born at 30 weeks of existence and grow so well. We know that our son's life continues on due to the magic and brilliance of modern medicine, to the power of science and to the determination of countless doctors, nurses and researchers who have perfected the process of saving babies. I have this feeling of complete surrender, acceptance and appreciation for the advanced society in which we live, for the technological era in which we exist and for the caring people of our community. It takes a village to raise a baby, especially when that baby is born weighing only 2lbs.
Here's to the future and everything it holds. We embrace all of its wonders with arms wide open, ready for whatever is next. We will continue to strive to create a fertile space for Asher to thrive, filled with love, harmony, creativity and nourishment. We are so excited to continue along our path of presence with everything that arises in life. To always find the beauty, the magic, the appreciation for the countless aspects of our lives together that are naturally conspiring towards a better future. We are so excited for you all to meet our little man and to share your life with him in some way.
Thank you all and I'll be posting many more pictures soon!
