Truly thankful

Well I think it's easy to say that Thanksgiving 2020 will be one which we'll probably never forget. So crazy to think that just one year ago we were newly moved into our house, celebrating with 14 dinner guests, and had no idea what would be in store this year. Now flash forward, 12 months and we're in the midst of a global pandemic, going on 130 days in the hospital, and expecting Baby #2 in just a few short weeks. What a difference a year makes! Today was quite different than our typical Thanksgiving festivities: things were much more laid back, with Jonathan joining our parents in Tacoma for a homecooked meal and me hanging at the hospital with Harrison, so I could get signed off on my "rooming in" training to finally be cleared for discharge. It wasn't originally planned for Thanksgiving, but seemed like as good a day as any and quite honestly I was just ready to get it over with. This process entails 24 hours of being responsible for handling all of Harrison's cares, with the nursing staff available to help, but allowing you to show your competency without them intervening. Since I started at 8pm yesterday, it was a rough night of 1-2 hours of sleep at a time, especially at almost full term in my pregnancy, but I basically just viewed it as a refresher course on what it will be like to care for a newborn again! :P While the hospital cafeteria/room service lunch I had delivered was not nearly as delicious as most "traditional" Thanksgiving meals, it was a nice treat to be able to have one of our favorite nurses from our continuity list to hang with throughout the day. I made sure to prioritize Jonathan getting a break from the constant distractions and interruptions here at the hospital by sending him away to Tacoma for the day, and the bonus was when he returned with a doggy bag of leftovers for me. :-) Needless to say, although our holiday was quite unusual in terms of tradition, the fact that today's theme was all about being grateful has definitely not managed to escape us. It is forefront in our minds that Harrison's recovery, growth/strength, and overall health is the biggest blessing we've received so far this year! We are immensely blessed by the outpouring of love and support from friends/family, the amazing care from the doctors and nurses caring for Harrison, and the promise of a new beginning soon to come. Taking a moment to just breathe and acknowledge our many blessings is in and of itself one of the greatest gifts we could've imagined when we started down this path in July - truly thankful.