No place like home.

Whether your baby is all well and fine or poorly - one thing we all want when we're on the maternity ward is to be told when you can go home. Some parents have to wait longer than others, some parents have a textbook birth and go within a few hours. It's a mutual mission that every mum longs for after having a baby... getting them home, to your safe environment and ready to start parenthood. Yes, I am still waiting for that day but I'm not alone. There are plenty of other parents out there who are also waiting and that day may never come for some, so be sure to count your blessings.

I rarely go into how I'm feeling, I think Andrew is the same, because you don't want to bore someone with your problems or feel like you go on and on about it constantly when in reality, it's the only thing we're really dealing with at the moment. Again we both have one mutual mission - to get Orlaith home, safe and well.

I can 100% relate with jealously - it bugs me when I see people walk in, sneeze a baby out then go home but at the same time your so happy for them; it's a strange mixture of feelings. Families out with their prams even pisses me off.  Our babies are like fresh air in our lungs, so whatever the circumstances, I'm happy to spend my day with her in any way that I can and I'm sure any parent can agree.

♡

We were fortunate enough on one occasion, when Orlaith managed without the IV, to take her out around the hospital. She was born on 13/04/13 and we took her out (well on an outing at least!) on 18/05/13, just over a month old. I honestly felt like we were so close to home, only a couple of weeks to go but she never got there. That's fine by us, as much as we want her home the need for getting her better is much greater.

O's first outing

I spent every waking minute preparing my home for my baby's arrival.. I took nesting to a whole new level (I would occasionally scrub the skirting boards during the middle of the night and all things just as bizarre...) and we spent a fortune redecorating and getting her nursery just right. But now I can't even stand in her room for too long without breaking down and having a sob, it's the simple things I long for. Orlaith's not a newborn anymore - she's a week away from being 3 months old; she hasn't even been in her home county, let alone near the front door. We can't bath our baby without supervision, we can't just put an outfit on her, we can't just sit in the garden on a lovely day like today, we can't show her off to any of our friends or family, we can't just have a cuddle on the sofa, the list goes on and on...we can't always soothe her either, she's literally bound to the one area or about a foot away from the IV pole. I can sympathise with any person who knows this feeling and I won't be taking anything for granted when we can eventually say different and we're home.

Some things are for sure though; we religiously keep the car seat within arms reach of the front door, the wheels of her pram are ready in the kitchen, moses basket in the living room... if we ever get the news of Orlaith getting a coming home date.. I want to be ready.

I come home every so often and do the washing, some fantastic people have offered to help in all ways they can...including doing our washing... but as lame as it sounds, doing Orlaith's washing is the only 'mummsey' thing I can do right now and I wouldn't want anyone taking that away from me. I actually get enjoyment from doing numerous wash loads, staying up late getting it all done and dried ready to take up the next day but it's just one of those things. When we eventually are home, its going to be completely different - no monitors or nurses in every hour, we are so catered to the current circumstances that we will have a huge shock when we are home; not only getting used to having a baby around but adapting to the homely environment, too.

♡

Seeing her face light up, is the best part of my day and I can't wait to get her home. She'll know everyday how special and important she is to us, she's like our reflection.. we're not just two people casually dating anymore, we have something much greater than anything else in the world that we share and that in itself is priceless.

♡

We will get our babies home soon (if anything we'll be calling up the wards asking to have them back for a night so we can get some sleep haha!) just got to hang in there and remember there is always someone you can relate to around you, we're all here for the same reason.