The Monitors Are Dark...

They told us this day would come, and that it would sneak up on us. Sure enough, after early Wednesday morning's setback of Nora not finishing her food, she hasn't missed a meal since.

Now she just has to keep eating well through tonight, and we can take her home tomorrow!

The kid has been a champ at eating. I thought she was a champ before, but we were feeding her 40 cc's of bottle (of breastmilk and formula), and today the doctor put her on an "at will" diet where she can sleep as much as she wants (up to 4 hours), wake herself up, and eat what she wants.

Today, she chug-a-lugged 60 cc's in 7 minutes flat. She's eat several 50cc bottles too. It just clicked, and now she's a food hound.

Overnight, she gained 3 oz. She now weighs more than when she was born -- at 5 lbs., 1.1 oz.!

THAT is amazing.

So today the rapid-fire talks started. The nurses showed me a checklist of what we needed to know before we went home.

And then the monitors went black.

Brian went out to check on why the monitors weren't working. For 10 days now, Nora's vital signs have shown up on this screen for us to see.

But the night before release, we fly solo. No monitors. No wires. Just Nora breathing and heart beating on her own.

Tonight during the staffing break when they kick you out of the NICU from 7-8 p.m., Brian and I went to a support group meeting for NICU parents.

The story of one man whose daughter was born with Down Syndrome. Another couple with a baby who was born at 29 weeks. 26 weeks. 27 weeks. 32 weeks.

We left the room feeling so blessed. Of the group, we're the only ones going home soon. Our baby is the biggest, healthiest one in the bunch.

And now it's time to feed our little one!