NICU Graduation

The 9th (I know..I should have blogged about it almost two weeks ago!) was a fun and special night for our family. The hospital that Madelyn was transferred to when she was born had a graduation for all the NICU patients from the previous year. It was one big graduation party complete with diplomas, graduation pictures and cupcakes!

My mom works at Mother Frances so we met up with her before we made our way to the party. She loves showing off her grandbabies!The first thing we did when we got there was had Madelyn's picture taken.
I think she was still in shock from all the people at first so she wasn't in the smiling mood yet.
They had a pro snap one of her and I think it turned out pretty cute! She had on a cute little dress from "Aunt" Kim and "Uncle" Gary. It's kind of big on her right now, but I love it so much that I am going to make sure she gets to wear it a lot!!
One of the best parts was getting to see all of the nurses, respiratory therapists, doctors and the case worker that helped us and encouraged us along the way. They will always be special to us!
It's amazing to me the sheer number of people that end up depending on the care that a NICU provides. As I looked around the room I saw so many familiar faces. Old friends. New friends. Our banker. A fellow college classmate. The girl that tried to steal my identity and money (seriously). Dr. Morris mentioned that over 400 babies had a stay in the NICU in the last calendar year. "Over 400 families whose pregnancies did not end the way that they had planned." We are so blessed to have such a great facility with a phenomenal staff right in our own back yard.
Marlo was working the event (she works in the marketing department). MK loves Aunt Marlo!
There were SO many people. It was completely packed with family and lots of super cute little babies. It was almost hard to move around at some points! I think the crowd was a little overwhelming for the munchkin. She was pretty feisty so we had to cut out early. Grandpa was on his way, but we told him that the princess wasn't sticking around any longer! She was done and letting all of us know it in true toddler fashion.
Since it was a special night, Madelyn got a few bites of a cupcake. She's mainly an icing kind of girl so far. She comes by that naturally though.
Happy Graduation Day, Madelyn!
We are so thankful that we were able to celebrate.
Thankful that this part of our journey had a beautiful ending!