Homecoming
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you."
— Jeremiah 29:11-12
The day we have all been waiting for has finally arrived! We were discharged from the hospital for the first time on September 8th, 2026, after a series of successful training sessions and stability tests.
Barrett spent nearly the first 50 days of his life in the hospital, and the vast majority of that time hooked up to pumps and sensors, so it was overwhelmingly joyful to carry him out of the building untethered and free! It was strange to think that he had never really been outdoors, or even outside of the smaller hospital rooms, and he has been eagerly interested in just about everything going on around him.
Our life at home is a bit more complicated than that of a typical newborn — Barrett requires a steady schedule of medications and feeding via his NG tube and pump - but the broad strokes of his care are the same as any other baby's. He has made amazing progress on "traditional" feeding methods at home in just a few days, and is taking significant amounts of breast milk directly from a bottle, so we're optimistic that the NG tube and pump won't be our only options over the next few months.
This period between Barrett's 1st and 2nd open-heart surgeries is known as "interstage," and this "home interstage care" is monitored weekly by a team from Duke, as Barrett's health is still somewhat fragile during this time. We've been equipped with emergency oxygen and additional healthcare training to give us some peace of mind as well. Ultimately, we want to focus on providing normalcy to both our children and celebrating our time together with joy. I will post about Barrett's future surgical path later on, but we are confident in his continued recovery and know that our home is certainly the best place for him right now.
The constant stream of prayers and support for Barrett has been incredible, and we're eternally grateful to the friends and family who have helped us finally bring our baby boy home. We look forward to sharing him with the world and dedicating him at our church in the coming months, as he is truly a testament to God's goodness and faithfulness.
