Here we are at last….less than 48 hours from brining Savannah home and for the first time since she was born, finally enjoying some quiet time with just the three of us together (not even the dog to distract us), hauled up in a small bedroom on the neonatal unit and left to our own devices – yikes! It’s both exciting and daunting at the same time but just sitting around not really doing very much and not over hearing and watching other babies and nurses going about their business, is fantastic.

We arrived at the hospital at around lunchtime today, complete with our overnight bag, freezer bag for bringing home the rest of SJ’s milk, oxygen tank and car seat in tow, all ready for the big departure on Monday morning.  As I type, both Savannah and Roz are taking a quick pre-dinner nap, before we all settle down for Savannah’s penultimate night here in special care.  As well as clinics to check-up on her progress, we were warned some time ago to expect to be regular visitors to hospital over the next few years as Savannah’s poorly lungs might see her spending the odd week in St George’s from time-to-time when she picks up a bug.  So as anxious as we’ve been to escape this place since the day we arrived, back in mid-October last year, and as excited as we are to be so so close to the finish line and leaving, there’s also something weirdly comforting to know that we’ll likely be back at some stage and that we’re only a stone’s throw away from the amazing care and miracle workers here at St G’s, should we need them again.  It’s like some sort of Stockholm Syndrome (albeit with caring doctors and nurses, rather than ruthless kidnappers!) and there’s no doubt at all that we’ll miss SJ’s captors, who’ve taken such great care of her over these last 4 months.

We’ve written some thank you cards (one for the team in ICU and High Dependency and another for the team in Special Care) and bought some chocolates to give everyone when we leave on Monday but how on earth do you say thank you and express your gratitude to the people without whom we wouldn’t have a beautiful daughter to be writing about and to be taking home in a day and a half?!  There genuinely aren’t words big enough, long enough or deep enough to describe our appreciation for the team here who’ve nursed Savannah from her meagre 865g birth weight to her whopping 4.16kg departure weight.  They’ve taught her to breath without a ventilator or support from her old friends Mr CPAP and Varpourtherm, they’ve taught her to feed without a tube in her belly, they’ve fought off infections, they’ve repaired damage to her eyes with what must have been the world’s teeniest laser and they’ve done what they said they would and got her better. And whilst doing all of this, they’ve supported Roz and me, let us get involved in her care, explained things patiently when we’ve asked daft questions, explained things patiently when we’ve been too embarrassed to ask daft questions, talked to us in the naughty room when we needed it and gotten us through the journey, delivering on the promise of letting them worry about the medical stuff, so we don’t have to.  Of course, we’ve worried all-right. There were times when there was little else we could do other than worry but sure enough,  the roller-coaster ride we were promised at the outset was exactly what we got.  So as the roller-coaster rounds the final bend and glides smoothly into the unloading zone, there’s adrenalin rushing through our veins like you wouldn’t believe and we’re clambering to get out and start the next ride, although this time we’ll definitely be picking a gentler one, which doesn’t require white knuckles, so we can soak up the views along the way and enjoy the next journey with Savannah.

So back to my original point, as one chapter of the Great Adventures of SJ comes to a close and we’re about to start on a new one at home with our gorgeous daughter like regular parents, we’ll be forever grateful to the amazing team at St George’s who’ve gotten us all here. My 185 mile bike ride in May, accompanied by Les, Alistair, Charles, Jamie and Eddy who make us the rest of Team SJ will hopefully raise a good amount of cash for First Touch to help other families have the same amazing outcome and experience we’ve had here at St Georges (see link for sponsorship details….. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/displaySomeoneSpecialPage.action?pageUrl=teamSJ).

And so I’ll sign-off this penultimate post with the simple words for the 100+ staff we’ve met along the way here at St George’s…..

Thank you all so so much. 

Love Savannah, Roz & Sam