A Reunion

Today was the Mercy NICU reunion. The reunion is held every year and all the tiny babies come back all grown up to see the nurses and doctors and other families from the NICU. It was held at a park in Carmichael and there were soooo many families there, some that we recognized with babies around Aiden's age and others with older kids running around. We were so excited to go and see the people that saved Aiden's life and show them how great he is doing. The people that work in the NICU become like your family when you are there, they take care of your baby and they take care of you, too. We became very close to some of them when we spent our 4 1/2 months there and got to see many of them today. I hope that they don't mind that I posted their pictures, but I want my friends and family to see the people that helped Aiden so much.

Jeremy, Aiden and Heather. Heather and I have been friends since we were born and she works in the NICU. The day Aiden was born I was in the operating room in the early morning hours finishing up my c-section when in comes a worried looking nurse in operating room attire, it was Heather. She came in on her day off and watched over Aiden when we could not be in the NICU. She went between him and my room giving us updates on what was going on. Without her doing that we probably would have gone crazy not knowing - plus Heather can make you laugh even when you are having one of the most tramatic days of your life :)

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Me, Aiden and Dawn. Dawn was Aiden's daytime primary nurse. Dawn watched over Aiden when he was very, very sick all the way through until he left the NICU. I loved it when Dawn was there because she let me do everything with Aiden and would chat with me like I was a friend, not a mother in the NICU which made me feel so much more comfortable there. She would joke around with Jeremy and made things a little more fun. She loved Aiden and took great care of him. She got teary today when she saw him :)

This is Dr. Getman, she was Aiden's main doctor, she was on duty the morning Aiden was born. She literally saved our son's life. Probably more than once. She had to give us the bad news and got to give us the good news, too. Sometimes I miss her morning phone calls to update us on Aiden's progress...mmmm...maybe not :)

This is Sheila, she was there today but we weren't able to get a picture of her - this is from the night before Aiden left the NICU. She was Aiden's nighttime primary nurse. Sheila taught us so much and helped us learn to do the basic things like giving Aiden baths. Sheila was Aiden's nurse the night we were told that things were looking bad, he was on full support and nothing else could be done for him. That night he started to turn around and got better, now maybe it was just a coinsidence, but I think Shiela helped him. He always had good nights with her and she was so good to him, we loved the way Sheila used to talk to him and comfort him. She was so excited to see him today!

This was the main area of the reunion - look at all the people there! We also got to see alot of the other nurses and also some of the respritory therapists that took care of Aiden. There were also a few people missing that we were hoping to see, maybe next year!

Jeremy and Aiden sitting on the lawn. Please note, Aiden has no oxygen tube :) He has been able to be off his oxygen during the day for the last few days!

This morning...

This morning I got up, got Aiden's bottle together and grabbed a cup of coffee. Then I heard this strange noise coming from the bedroom. So I grabbed the camera and headed in to see what was going on...

Yep, Aiden was cracking up at nothing. The ceiling, maybe? Even Sophie had a very confused look on her face. This went on for about 15 minutes, something was very funny :)

Apple Hill

We took Aiden on his first trip to apple hill today. I wanted all 3 of us to go before it got really busy up there and we really wanted to get out of the house and enjoy the nice weather today. We stopped and got sandwiches and picnic supplies on the way up the hill, so our first stop was lunch at one of the apple ranch's picnic area. It was really nice, we set up our blankets under a tree by a little waterfall and stream. Aiden laid down and smiled up at the trees and sky, he talked to them a little, too.

After lunch we went directly for dessert - apple cider donuts from Rainbow Orchards, I remember going there with my mom and dad for donuts and hot cider when I was little. Then we went on a search for some apples and other goodies. We stopped at a couple more places and bought 2 different kinds of apples and some peaches - we already had a ton of pears from "Walshaw Orchards" ha ha. I plan on making Aiden some food this week with fresh apple hill fruit!

I can't wait until the day we can take Aiden on the train, ride on the ponies, and get his face painted but, until then, it was really nice for us to get out of the house and spend some time together. It was a great way to spend labor day!