This week is a big week for so many reasons. We’re just coming to the end of National Nursing Week, we just celebrated International Kangaroo Care Day, and it’s also my daughter’s birthday. These three events are so linked in my mind and my heart and my life, because without nurses we would never have been able to hold our baby, and if we had never been able to hold our baby, I’m not sure we would be where we are today.
Two weeks old, being held by Dad
When Maggie turned one, we celebrated, but barely. We were joyful for her, but the events that led to her birth still weighed heavily on us, so our feelings were bittersweet. Each year since then the balance between bitter and sweet has shifted, and now it’s pretty much all sweet. 
The first time we saw Maggie’s face (at 2 months old), and our first family picture
I have spent some time today thinking of those two scared parents who had no idea of what was coming next, and I wish I could reach back through the years and hold them and tell them that they would be okay. But mostly I think about how our life has changed in so many wonderful ways since 2005. It’s not just that we added our magical Maggie to our family (although that’s the biggest and most splendid part of it). We also met such wonderful people who transformed her life and ours.
So to those people (and you know who you are), thank you for being the best welcoming committee ever, and thank you for continuing to guide families through the confusing maze of the NICU with such compassion and skill. To the other NICU families we have met since then … we have learned so much from you and we are so grateful to be part of this amazing community. We include all of you – nurses, doctors, RTs, NICU families – in our celebration today because we know we couldn’t have done any of this without you.
Our birthday girl … it’s entirely possible that she’ll manage to pull the sword out!
