Life outside a hospital= REALLY GOOD!

Oh man, is my life good!  What an amazing past few days!  Caleb got discharged from the hospital on Sunday afternoon and we are having the time of our lives.  I can’t believe I worried that Caleb would struggle with leaving… I thought he would be overwhelmed at the change of environment and maybe anxious being in a totally new place.  I was so wrong!  All day Sunday, he told everyone he saw that he was leaving and when the time finally came to actually walk out the door, Caleb was clapping, excitedly pointing out every new thing he saw.  “Wook at all da cars, Mommy!  Wook at da bird, Mommy!  I wuv our car, Mommy!” and so on.  He literally did not stop talking for about an hour, he was so crazy happy and enthusiastic.  Daniel and I could not stop ourselves from crying as we watched our sweet boy take in the outside world.

We went over to our apartment at the Ronald McDonald House where we will be staying for the next 2 or 3 weeks.  Caleb can’t go all the way home quite yet.  This is a period of time where he will go to the hospital for check-ups (what we call “clinic”, where he gets blood work and echos and we meet with the transplant doctor).  We will be adjusting meds until all of his levels are stable before we can go home.  Also before we can go home, Caleb has to have his first heart biopsy to check for rejection, which will be early tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.  He will be put to sleep while they sample tissue from his heart to see whether his body is accepting it. 

For now, we are enjoying living with our boy outside the hospital.  Caleb is in isolation, which means he can’t really go anywhere besides our apartment, other than outside.  He can go for walks, which we are doing a lot with this beautiful weather.  Yesterday we took a walk and I’ve hardly ever seen Caleb so happy and full of life, walking down a sidewalk, stopping and looking for pine cones and bugs and marveling every time he saw a squirrel or bird.  I thought I would burst with emotion.  Jonah came for a visit today and the four of us went through the Steak n Shake drive through and got lunch and milkshakes.  We brought it back to the apartment and I’ve never had so much fun eating a meal in my life; all 4 of us sat at a table together for the first time in a year.  The boys could barely sit still they were so happy, simply eating cheeseburgers together.  I sat there thinking, I wish every parent could feel this much satisfaction and happiness from sharing small moments with their family.  Daniel and I just keep looking at each other and saying, “I can’t believe how good this is.”

Jonah still can’t stay with us full time, but he is having plenty of visits and very soon we’ll all be together for good.  Wow, I can’t get over that!  Tomorrow will be a big day and we ask for your prayers over the tests Caleb will have.  PRAYING FOR NO REJECTION!!  We also need prayers for the timing of Lucy being born… we are praying that God would take care of us in regards to the timing of her arrival because she could literally be born the same time we’re leaving.  Our life is full!  These are good problems to have and we CAN’T WAIT to be home as a family of five!  I can’t even imagine the amazing days that are ahead of us.