In town on the clown

We've spent the last week in Hamilton thanks to Ronald McDonald house. Ronald McDonald house makes it possible for families with children in the hospital to stay in town with them for only $10 a night. They also provide dinners, free laundry facilities and soap and free long distance anywhere in the world. When we arrived at the house we were greeted with a hot dinner and an amazing room. It's huge and clean and has a four poster king size bed. It's nicer than our house.

The incredible kindness and my gratitude for the people at the house started me thinking about all of the hands that have helped to support us along this journey. I thought about Dr. Nwebube in Grimsby, whose gigantic hands wrote my blood pressure prescription and ensured the safety of my baby while in utero for those weeks. I thought about all of the nurses in Grimsby, especially the one who massaged my neck the night I couldn't sleep because of the pain and worry. I thought of the hands of Dr. Patricia Smith, who was the first to touch our Sophie and who welcomed her with the words, "It's a tiny tiny baby girl..". All of these hands, all working together to help us, to help our baby girl. More hands, in Hamilton, the amazing nursing staff of the NICU, who taught us how to use our hands to soothe Sophie back to sleep.The hands of Dr. Marrin and Dr. SantAnna, who kept our girl safe. Finally, I thought of the hands of the people who made the dinner for us at Ronald McDonald house.

All of these people worked together without knowing each other and without knowing us. All of these people gave so much kindness and gentle care to our family. All of these amazing people who just do these things because it's what they do. I am in awe.

Sophie is doing amazing. She weighs 3 pounds 7 ounces now. She's on the path to come home. We met with her doctor yesterday and he said that if she gets another negative eye swab on Tuesday then she can come out of isolation. She can then be transferred to St. Catharines if they have space for her. We just love seeing her blossom and it's really like she's a newborn, even though she's 10 weeks old. She cries and smiles and is learning (slowly) to breastfeed. I told the nurses that I feel like breastfeeding this 3 pound baby is like trying to park a Buick in an econo spot....

We are going crazy wanting this to be over. Both Kie and I feel exhausted, like we need a vacation, and the hardest part is coming up. Sometimes it feels like we've been running a marathon and we're almost done - until someone moves the finish line a little bit further away. The only way we've made it through has been on the support of all of your hands, our families and friends. We love to read your comments and they keep us going. We thank you all so much.