NICU Diaries: Week 1
The days are all blurring together. I’m having a hard time responding individually to everyone, so here are updates!
We named our baby Henry, and his goals are to REST and GROW. It will take time because mimicking what happens in the womb while outside of it is a lot of work haha.
Thankfully we have excellent care at the most amazing NICU. As parents we can now see a live stream of our baby, and I use it frequently while we’re apart. This is not our first rodeo at the NICU, so it’s all comforting and familiar: coming in for “Cares” 4x/day to see or hold baby outside incubator; pumping at the bedside and cleaning my kit 8x/day; filling the fridge with syringes of colostrum; getting updates from our team (nurses, neonatologists, respiratory therapists, practitioners, lactation specialists, technicians); eating lunch leftovers in the parent lounge. It’s all coming back.
Day 1: Happy Birthday, Henry!
Baby had a busy first day of life! Read about it here.
Day 2: Our Little Miracle
Jer was amused at how tiny Baby is next to his hand. We saw his beautiful face when they were switching out his equipment. He is in an isolette and under minimal stimulation (touch, sounds, smells all overwhelm him so they keep it warm and quiet in there).
Baby met my sister Adelynn who’s been taking care of my other kids at home with their morning routine while I’m in the hospital. I’m so thankful for her!
Day 3: Meeting Big Sister
Baby had a successful PICC line for IV nutrition placed. I was released from the hospital today, and we left after our 4am visit with Henry so that I could relax at home.
Took the kids out of school since the hospital discharge was at 3-5am … I gave Lily the option of doing anything she wanted after we visited Henry, but she wanted to stay with him all day so we ate at the cafeteria and visited the gift shop and she did all his Cares like change his meconium diaper and switched his monitors and took his temperature and adjusted his bedding and cleaned his mouth, and she talked with me while I pumped at the bedside.
Henry is doing so well! He’s breathing room oxygen just fine but has the CPAP for pressure. They tried to feed him donor milk for the first time until my milk comes in, so that was a big progress because he wasn’t supposed to do that for like a week. We may be able to hold him soon.
Day 4: Kangaroo Cares
Baby didn’t tolerate his feeding from last night well, so they’re upping his protein in the IV nutrition, and had to up his CPAP also. They had to remove a lot of air and bile in his stomach. He got a glycerin shot in his bum to help teach his gut how to move food. Dr says that in addition to going home on oxygen when the time comes, he will need fortification in my breast milk even when he’s released for at least 6 months- to ensure his bones, muscle, and brain develop properly since he doesn’t get that in the womb.
I got to hold him for 2 hours ❤️❤️❤️❤️ It was the BEST and I feel so so happy!!! Skin to skin is so beneficial for both parents and baby, and it certainly helped me today. My priority is to get my milk supply going to help Baby get home once he’s ready to eat.
Day 5: Aunts Visit
I am in heaven, they let me hold him right after we did all his Cares. He got upgraded to a cannula that goes in his nostrils instead of over his whole nose, so he got that cleaned and checked today. He tolerated some of his food last night. We were also matching in yellow. I see him peeking out at the camera while I’m pumping.
Two of my sisters came to visit so we had cafeteria lunch outside by the ducks and visited Baby. The kids at home were thrilled to play with their Aunts.
Day 6: First Family Visit
The kids met Baby! There’s a max of 4 people allowed at the bedside, so Jer and I switched out. Kids were so respectful of their little brother and how fragile he is. They kept their hands clean, used gentle firm touch and soft voices, and were very sweet to him. Our nurse said the kids visiting made her day. Henry calmed down as soon as he got flipped to lay on his tummy. F couldn’t stop talking about Henry the rest of the day.
I missed my Baby so much after our brief morning visit that I started crying after dealing with a blockage and pumping all day. Jer took me all the way back to the hospital late at night so I could see Henry and even just change his diaper through a port hole, but the nurse surprised us and let us help give him a sponge bath for the first time. I got to hold and lift him while he got weighed and his bedding got changed. We’ve been told by multiple nurses how much Henry loves his binky, and finally got to see him in action sucking on it fiercely.
Day 7: Skin to Skin Snuggles
It’s a new week, so we got moved to a new bed area. Jeremy was able to hold Baby’s hands while I performed his Cares. I did skin-to-skin with Baby, and we are both so content to warm and hold each other. Our nurse said she has not seen him so calm, he’s normally feisty haha but she says he loves me so much, and it’s so beneficial for him that whenever we are able they will support me holding him this way.
Not only do we both get the pair-bonding oxytocin, but a calm and happy baby will eat and sleep better—and I would argue that a calm and happy Mama will be ready to pump again haha.
Your prayers and positive thoughts and maybe even just advice or encouragement on surviving this will be so helpful for me. We have such a good support system here in our ward and neighborhood and even back in Provo nearer the hospital so it’s all been taken care of. I’ve been able to be at the hospital all day and come home to someone dropped off dinner for our family, someone washed our laundry, someone walked our dog, someone offered to take kids to soccer… I’m seriously overwhelmed with gratitude.
Love, Kat
Read about next week: Week 2!
Check out more weeks from our NICU journey here.
