Adam and Lacey: June 2017

Dalley here. Checking in for the weekend.

I just got back from the hospital yesterday.

They had to take me back on Friday to have surgery on my heart to close my PDA.

I have known this day was coming for quite some time now...... And I have been dreading it......

I was shaking in my socks.

I tried to lay very still......to remain unseen.

I thought.... if I can't see them, then they can't see me!

But eventually..... I had to face my problems head on. And to the hospital we went!

My Aunt Emmy got to come with us to help mom carry all of my stuff.

I'm what they call a "Diva" and have a hundred bags everywhere we go.

Mom... The Bag Lady.

Despite bringing all of my own cute clothes to the hospital.... THIS monstrosity is what they put me in.

Can you believe this?!?!

(This may be the "Diva" coming out in me as well....)

This hospital gown was a dingey green gown. But..the upside was it had rocket ships on it. ROCKET SHIPS!..... COOL!

"To Infinity And Beyond!"....

I think I'm going to coin that phrase... Don't anybody think about stealing it.

You heard it here first folks......

ANYWAY......

The surgery went pretty well. They put a device in my heart to close the PDA and I only had to spend one night in the hospital.

Believe it or not.... Mom and Dad shared that tiny little couch/bed.

We were able to come home on Saturday night so we actually got to spend Father's Day in our home! Not in the hospital!

I like Father's Day... Because I REALLY like my dad.

This is a picture of the first time he got to hold me.

I sure have grown since then!

One of the best parts about being home is that I get to see him every day... instead of just through facetime and on Friday nights.

We get to snuggle EVERY.....

SINGLE.....

NIGHT!!!!

So happy Fathers Day to my awesome Dad!

Happy Father's Day to the guy that tells me I can be anything I want to be...

The guy that teaches me to be brave... and to be strong...

And tells me to be kind.

And dances with me to my favorite songs.

And reads my favorite princess books to me...

And drove to see me when I was in the hospital.... even though he was already tired from not getting any sleep.

Happy Father's Day to the guy that calms me down when I am sad and scared.

And helps give me baths.

And sings Chris LeDoux songs to me.

And holds my hand through some of life's scariest moments.

And even though you take FOREVER to put my clothes on me...

And give me kisses with those sharp things on your face....

And sometimes make me watch really boring movies....

You are still my favorite person to explore the world with....

and snuggle with..

And hangout with.

OH!.... And I'm sorry about the time I threw up on you....

Okay.....OKAY... MAAAAYBE it was more than once...

But I can't guarantee that will be the last time either....so prepare yourself.

I love you Dad!

Thanks for loving me. through all of life's hills and valleys.

Good night world....

I think I'll go to bed now...

Time for some more "Diva" beauty sleep.

I'M OUTA HERE!!!!

My sentence has been served. My goals have been reached. The boxes have been checked. Good-byes have been said. Tears have been shed.

The time came to say good-bye to the NICU.

I got released on Saturday, May 27. I am not sure which day will be more celebrated in the future. My birthday, December 20? Or my release date, May 27? Maybe I'll make mom throw me two birthday parties.

My real birthday was not a happy day. But my second birthday is!

I was sad to say good-bye to all of my friends in the NICU. I asked everyone to come get a picture of me on my last day. .... but some of them refused to come in on their day off. Can you believe that?? I even begged.... but most declined my request.

It really hurt my feelings.

But I got my picture with a few of them......

My "NICU aunt" Hollie came to say good-bye to me.

This is Alisa and Tammie. They were the very first nurses I ever had. They took care of me the second I was born.

This is my nurse Lisa. I will miss charting with her. I really got to read up on some top secret information when we worked together.

This is nurse Shanda. She helped keep my mom calm the night that I got really sick.... You remember the night? I refer to it as...."the night that the lights almost went out in Georgia".....

Good-bye nurse Jane. Thanks for teaching me about "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"... and I can't wait to go shoe shopping!

Good-bye Lori, the RT.

Good-bye Erika the NNP. She introduced mom to the most DELICIOUS cookies... that I got to indulge in second hand.

Nurse Lisa again!

Rebecca the RT. She reminded mom of my grandma that is in Heaven.

Nurse Libby said good-bye to me too. I like nurse Libby... even though she spells my name wrong... ahem.... ahem.... Dalley Raye.... not Dalley Rae..... ahem ahem...

Good-bye nurse ....soon to be NNP, Dallin!

Good-bye Nurse Jeanette! She is actually an NNP now. I was her last primary baby! Score! And.... She's the only one that came in on her day off to say good-bye to me.

I had to say goodbye to Amy the day before. Good-bye nurse Amy!

Good -bye NNP Mindy!

These pictures don't even cover half of the awesome people that helped me while I was growing in the NICU. If mom would have been thinking about it... she would have gotten a picture with every single one of them. They're the best... and I miss them.

I also said good-bye to my personal trainer, Beatrice.

But after a while... the good-byes became lengthy.

I was ready to go... so I threw a major tantrum... I screamed.... "COME ON! LET'S GO!"

.... They put me into my chair...

And the long drive home began.

On our drive.. another stranger showed up... and stared at me. ......JUST LIKE BEATRICE DID!!!!

I said.. "Hey! Who are you? What do you want? Who sent you? Who you been talkin' to?"

Again... they just stared. They said nothing....

I think it might be another spy.. or another trainer... perhaps they work with Beatrice and they're going to make sure I keep up on my training since Beatrice stayed behind at the NICU to train other babies......

I think I'll let them stay. .....But I'm still keeping my eye on them!

The ride home was very STRESSFUL! You people drive like maniacs!

And....Dad's kind of a crazy driver........

At one point, it just became too scary to even look. I had to cover my eyes.

Finally..... we got home!

Things WERE going so great!

I was snuggling a lot with dad....

Snuggling with mom......

Eating our first family meal together....

Taking naps with dad......

(check it out... me and dad sleep the same.)

Snuggling as a family....

Taking baths.....

Playing with all of my toys.....

I even went on my first walk outside!... Which I liked for approximately 7 minutes.

And then I was ready to go back home. But I did see some cool stuff on my first trip outside.

(The running stream made me wet my diaper.)

Like I said.... Things WERE awesome!

But 2 days after I got released.... Mom got a cold.... and then 3 days after that...mom gave ME her cold....

And it turns out.... I am too fragile for even a tiny little cold.

My tiny cold landed me back on the inside.

A 3 AM trip to the emergency room is not my idea of a good time!

I thought it was just going to be a quick trip... but they tried to lock me up...AGAIN!

But I raised my first of defiance and I refused.

I declared... "YOU WILL NEVER TAKE MY FREEDOM!"

"AT DAWN I RIDE!"

They finally listened to me and I was only in the Emergency room for a few days. The Emergency room is a lot different than the NICU.

They let me have visitors that were kids. So I got to meet my first cousin in person. I can't wait to meet the rest of my cousins in person!

They also gave me a big bed fit for a queen!

They even let mom and dad sleep over with me. I thought it was funny because the bed mom and dad had to share was the same size as my bed that I got to myself! heh heh heh.

They finally let me go home, but sometimes I still can't breathe so mom has to take me to the hospital and they put a stupid vacuum up to my nose and suck it out so I can breathe.

This really makes me mad.