May 2nd

This flier came in the mail today and I immediately got teary-eyed the second Jon handed it to me. As my eyes scanned over it, I settled on the writing at the top. "You've Come a Long Way, Baby!" Things are a bit emotional this week anyway as we reflect on the past year and marvel at how amazingly beautiful and perfect our daughter is. As I read this and looked at the pictures, I flashed back to almost a year ago, thinking how those 10 days lasted so long and were filled with so much emotion, heartbreak, prayers and tears. And how the unknown was so hard to accept.

We were so thankful for the NICU staff. The nurses there so caring and helpful, guiding us as first-time parents through the scary time. Encouraging us with kind words and being almost as bummed as we were with every setback. The rotating circle of doctors was something we never got used to, but we never felt like they didn't care, that they didn't want what was best for Harper and never acted like it was a burden when we had 10,000 questions.

We realize how truly blessed we are having to only spend 10 days in the NICU with Harper. We were reminded of that every day as we saw the tiny micro preemies and their parents. We are hoping to see a few people and maybe recognize a few of the friendly faces we came to know those 10 days. We are so thankful for everything they did for us and though we wouldn't mind running into all of them at reunions like this one, we pray we never have to see them while they're working again. :)