It's been so long

Today was Hamot's NICU reunion at Waldameer. Held once every three years, it brings together nurses and hospital staff with NICU graduates (there have been almost 7,000 over the past 30 years) and their families. This one was our first (Evan was born a few months after the last one), and we were pretty excited to go.

The set up was pretty sweet--they had all of Rainbow Gardens (where we also had our senior prom!) filled with tables for lunch and refreshments. There were balloons and face painting inside, and a petting zoo and the DinoJump outside. There was even a "wall of fame" with pictures of former NICU kids from infancy through college. Imagine a 2 pound baby at his high school graduation--this really is a miracle.

We got to see Ev's nurses, and they all exclaimed over how big he's gotten. His primary nurse (or the one we saw most often) talked to us for a bit, and it was great to see her too. I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again--those nurses were so kind and so caring, and we'll never forget what they did for us. I still get teary sometimes thinking about how wonderful they were. The NICU was our universe for the first five weeks of Evan's life, and the people there will always hold a special place in my heart.

It was fun too to see all the babies and kids and teenagers running around, knowing that most of them were preemies also. It gives hope to us about Ev's future. I remarked to Mike that in most social situations, we're "different" in that we had such a difficult start with Evan. Most people don't even know what the NICU is, let alone have ever set foot in one. But every person in that room today knew, and had been through something like what we had been through. Everyone there was different too, and that made us smile. Sometimes still our experience makes us feel very alone, but today that was not a problem. We'll go back again in three years, when Evan is five, and do it all again.