Well, it turns out that Sullivan is on the ball, and he read the fine print of his Frequent Traveller Program User Guide, V2.1.
  He discovered that although during his 3 hour transfer to the baby car seat it was not located in a moving vehicle, and he did not leave the unit, and although he was only awake for 1/2 hour, and he slept the rest of the time, it still qualifies him for 1 (One) traveller point.
  That puts his total number of points accumulated to 16.
  Checking Column 3, of Table 2 in appendix B, he discovered that with 16 points he can qualify for ..........   (wait for it...)
 

Yes, you read that right.
After 124 days in Hospital, at a corrected age of 1 month 8 days, at an actual age of 4 months 4 days, Sullivan James Riley Nash is going home.

As you read this on Friday morning, Sullivan is being strapped into his car seat for the 2nd time, and he will, before noon on Friday March 12th, be transferred by his proud parents to the awaiting car outside the rear entrance of the Mount Sinai Hospital!

  To back track slightly, we were told last Friday that he could come home in one week. We did not want to tell anyone, because we did not want to jinx our good fortune. Anything still could have happened. His immunization could have given him a set back, ... anything. We were just  worried that by verbalizing it to anyone that it just wouldn't happen.
  Wednesday evening, Maureen and I and Sullivan stayed in the Hospital in the "Care-by-Parent" room. We "picked him up" at 6:30pm, and wheeled his cot down the hall to the converted patient room. It has a double bed, 2 night stands, 2 lamps, an alarm clock, a glider-rocker, an extra chair, and a few art prints on the orange walls to make it look more like home. He was "ours" for the night, with the only instructions being to check back in with the night shift nurse (7:30pm-7:30am shift) before her shift ended. Like any other parent for the first night, we were to care for him, feed him, change him, comfort him all on our own, with no monitors, no bells, no tubes, no nurses.
 The first thing Sullivan did was get rid of his Q4 schedule. None of that regimen for him. Feed every 4 hours, heck no!  He wanted to eat every hour all night, except for the 3 hour period between 1:30am and 4:30am when he took pity on us and decided to give us a break. But at 4:30am, he decided we had had enough sleep, and he just wanted to feed, and be walked around the room, and rocked, and stroked, and patted, and ... Loved!
  Tired yes. But what a joy, what a thrill, what an experience. To know that this was our little family group. That this group of three loving individuals would forever be joined together for the rest of our lives. A scary start, but a joy to see that he had bounced back so successfully.
  Today, he was placed in his car seat with all the monitors attached to see how he would handle that position. He was in it for 3 hours, sleeping for 2 1/2 hour of that, and looking around peacefully the other 1/2 hour. He passed with flying colours.
  Tonight, Maureen and I will try to tidy the house one last little bit (his room is ready, though he'll be staying in our room for an indefinite period), and then in the morning on Friday, we will go to the hospital to pick up our son.
  This will be my 2nd last regular entry in the daily journal of the "Hospital life" of Sullivan Web Page. I will enter one more update on Tuesday after I get back to work to tell you how our first weekend went.
  At this point now, Sullivan is a regular baby, and like any other parent, we will be going through the learning curve of raising a child. The update will no longer be necessary. Yes, he has a long road ahead of him. Because of his birth weight, under 1000 grams, he will be followed in the follow-up clinic at Hospital for Sick Children for the next 4 years (this helps them gather data on preemies), with visits approx. every 3 months for the first year, and then more spaced out after that. We will just have to wait and see if there are any lasting effects from Sullivan's early delivery and extended period on the ventilator.
  An added bonus to all of this, Sullivan will be invited to the annual "Mount Sinai Preemie Picnic" held every June in High Park. There we will be able to reacquaint ourselves with fellow parents and babies from Sullivan's stay in the hospital.

  Maureen and I thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for your thoughts, your prayers, your concern, your love and your friendship over the past 4 months plus. It is very heartening to know we have friends as special as all of you.
  If you check out the Saturday March 13 Toronto Star, you should find Sullivan's Birth Announcement that we have been waiting to put into the paper. The time has finally arrived.

The above is Sullivan's birth announcement. It appeared in the Toronto Star on Sunday March 14. The announcement originally appeared in The Star, Saturday March 13, but in the original The Star made a "correction" that changed the meaning of one of the thank you's. The word "nurseries" was changed to "nurses".

  Thank you once again for all your support. Thank you for following this page so closely. I used this page to not only keep you informed, but also as my own daily journal, so I will be able to remember all these early events.

  I will occasionally put up more images of Sullivan as he grows (like any parent).

  Thank you once again, later...