Countdown

So I probably shouldn't be in countdown mode...I'm destined to be disappointed...but I can't help myself. The nurse practitioner yesterday suggested that Leo should be home by his due date...that's in two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course she can't guarantee anything, and it's all up to him to get his eating skills up, and he might come home with the oxygen tank if he still needs a bit of a boost there, but still. The fact that they're actually giving us some sense of a timeline means good things. They don't offer that stuff up unless they're confident. And commence happy dance.

So now begins our frantic work to get the house ready...not the basement, that ship has sailed and we'll get it done when we get it done. My guess is when Leo's 10. Just kidding. I hope. But just getting the little stuff in order - assembling and installing and checking the car seat, getting the co-sleeper/bassinet set up, making sure our diaper and other supplies are fully stocked (thanks to awesome friends and family I think we're good!), fix stupid little things upstairs like the creaky bedroom door and slow shower drain, etc., etc. Can you tell I plan things for a living? I'm going into full PR Launch checklist mode. I think somewhere over the past 8 weeks we forgot that time marches on and, as suspected, the possibility of him coming home is upon us before we even knew it. This is a good problem to have!!! But still...let the obsessing begin.

Oh and we met our pediatrician yesterday. She's great. Kind of high strung/crazy, but in a good way. The way that really smart and capable people are. And, interestingly, she balances said crazy with a remarkably down to earth and low-stress approach to treating kids. Because after what we've been through with him, we don't need a high stress doctor. We talked about our fear and expectation that we have to basically keep Leo away from everyone and everything for the next year. And she told us that just wasn't so. Yes we need to have some common sense, if Aunt Susie is hacking her lungs up, for example, we probably shouldn't bring little Leo around. But having folks visit, taking him places (not the mall during the first month, you get the idea), and even possibly our original plan of in-home daycare down the street (vs. scrambling to find a nanny) should all be fine. Again, within reason. So she painted a very different picture of our immediate future with Leo than we had in our heads from the NICU staff. Which makes sense I suppose. The NICU is supposed to be more conservative, etc. - that's why they do such a great job with the babies. But we don't live in the NICU and it sounds like we don't have to make ourselves crazy or miserable worrying about exposing Leo to stuff. She definitely thinks that having the summer months for him to get stronger and grow, ahead of flu season, will be hugely helpful. YAY!

Jay just fixed the slow drain in the shower - check! And now we're off to see the little guy. And it's sunny again. ONWARD!