Day 67: home again home again

Well, the homecoming went over just about as well as we could possibly have hoped. Mina Brigitta threw up her medicine this morning, then was kind of pensive and clingy before taking an early nap. I'm not sure if it was the nausea, the upcoming changes or both. Will be interesting to see how she does tomorrow morning. Preparations were in full swing when she woke up, and it was obvious that today was the day. She kept saying "Home!" or "House!". When the time finally came, we bundled her into the new double stroller with her brother and wheeled down the corridor. The staff met us with a banner and a big cheer, led by Dr. Horn. Mina Brigitta is normally a bit shy, but she was a bit pumped up at that point and was pointing to the banner and saying "Dis!"

That kind of continued all the way down the hill to the flat. She kept pointing at the cars and saying "car-car!", and at the trees, and everything else she saw. When there was nothing in her immediate vision, she would exclaim "Out!" or "House!". Then when we got into the house she just wandered around looking at and remarking on everything she saw. She kept saying "Oooh!" Then when she saw the living room with the couch and the Algerian rug from our friends Karim and Hakima, she said "Sissy's home!". I guess we didn't have to worry about her missing the old house! She was thrilled to be here, and was in a really good mood all afternoon. Calm and low-key, yet obviously enjoying everything. She was excited when Amber stopped by for a while, but was wary of the visiting nurse. One of the biggest things about being home is just being able to walk around and explore. She was on her feet all afternoon, after weeks of hardly being on them at all. Small wonder that she tuckered out early and fell asleep about 7:00.

We have a daunting list of medicines to give her, and the rash on her legs was worse today, so there are still some worries. It's pretty likely that we'll end up back in the hospital at some point for one reason or another, so it wasn't really possible to say final goodbyes. But it sure feels great to be here right now. Every day that we can spend here will be a blessing.