Home where my thought?s escaping, home where my music?s playing, home where my love lies waiting silently for me.

So they are kicking us out or we are making a break for it while no one is looking, but either way we are outta here.  They have unhooked him from all monitoring (how do I know he is alive without an EKG and pulse ox?), he is eating like a champ (like any good Foster), pooping up a storm (like any good McLean?don?t tell Jen I said that), and his incision looks good.  Without all the monitors, it is surprisingly quiet in here?you can still hear the alarms in the other rooms, the other babies crying, and the Life Flight helicopter coming and going?which I believe lands right on top of our room?so there is no mistaking we are still in the hospital.  But they are sending us home in the next few hours. 

He will have one follow-up visit here at Duke with the surgeons this week, a visit to his pediatrician on Wednesday, and a checkup with his cardiologist in a month.  It?s kinda crazy that he is a week old and already has a cardiologist!  Otherwise, he is free to be a normal newborn. 

Thanks to all the doctors and nurses here at Duke who have made this experience as painless as possible for both us and him.  They have done an incredible job taking care of him, and helping us get through this as well.  I hope none of you have to experience this, but if you do, I highly recommend the pediatric cardiology, surgery, and PICU teams here.  I?m not a Duke fan yet, but if they win the ACC tournament, I?d be okay with that this year.

By the way, how is State doing in the tourney?  We?ve been a little out of the loop lately.