Tomorrow is the big day

Well, tomorrow is it. We bring Ezekiel home from the hospital. More accurately, we bring him to the Hodges from the hospital. Today was a quiet day, relatively, sandwiched in between 2 highly emotionally charged days.

We were up early, and at the hospital by 8 this morning. We were expecting the circumcision this morning, but we were told it had been postponed until tomorrow morning. Nathanael is excited to watch it. I am not.

Nathanael went out to get some breakfast for us - a sausage biscuit breakfast sandwich from Jack in the Box for me, and smoothies at Smoothie King for all of us. While he and Dana were gone, the photographer came by to take some professional pictures of Ezekiel, and that was my first time putting him in a cute outfit, and it was super fun. Amanda and I had a good time admiring him and snapping pictures of him, and he was an angel for the photographer, even when he had his shirt off.

Ezekiel had a hearing test, and he didn't pass it as well as the nurses would have liked, so he'll have to get another one tomorrow. It is probably just fluid in his ears still. I'm not worried, but Nathanael freaked out a little. :) He was already researching schools for the blind and deaf.

We left in the early afternoon, so Amanda could have some time alone with him. I thought that might be good for her. We went back to the Hodges, and ended up napping all afternoon, which I really enjoyed.

We went back to the hospital at 6, our favorite nurse Susan wanted to talk to us. She prepped us for newborn care and for what to expect tomorrow. We went in to see Amanda and Ezekiel after that, and she had a lot of visitors, including 2 elders from church and their wives and her mom. I was kind of nervous with all of those people in the room.

We said our goodbyes and left around 9. Dana talked to us for a long time in the hallway, prepping us for tomorrow. I was finally starting to feel pretty nervous about everything - newborn care, how tomorrow is going to go, leaving with Ezekiel, etc. Dana said I was starting to get that scared look on my face.

I'm sure I'll sleep fine tonight. I always do. I'll try to enjoy my last evening of a full nights sleep for a long time. Ezekiel is a little jaundiced, so Susan said he needs to be fed every 3 hours. I'll be taking him to a pediatrician before I leave Houston to have a checkup, and hopefully he won't be jaundiced anymore.

I was pleased to discover that every time that we've gone back to the hospital to see him, I am a little more excited to see him. I really am excited to bring him home, even though I'm nervous also. I don't feel like I've really been able to be myself around Ezekiel- I can't wait to get him back to the Hodges so I can stare at him and put lots of outfits on him and stuff. I already love to press my face against his and kiss his cheeks. I'm excited to be able to do that uninhibited.

I changed my screensaver on my phone to my favorite picture of him so far. Every time I turn my phone on, it gives me a start. From the glossy screen, he shouts, "I'm your baby!"

Here are some photos of day 2: