NICU Diaries: Week 8
Baby is 35 weeks corrected gestational age.
Read about last week: Week 7!
Day 50: Wound Care
I’m so tired, mostly from pumping every 2-3 hours and commuting to Provo every day to visit Baby. We need each other, and I’m trying to see him while I can before someone in our family gets sick. Still holding onto the idea of breast-feeding if I just hang on a bit longer. He’s over 5lbs now, but still on a breathing machine and recovering from an infection and a head wound. Today was the 50th day in the NICU, and I’m realizing he probably won’t be home by his due date.
I arrived just as Wound Care came to check Baby’s head wound discovered yesterday. It looks like a pressure ulcer, which will take 2-6 weeks to heal depending on the cause (still unknown). They’re using a special ointment and bandage to keep it clean.
Baby Henry showed off how strong he is lifting his head, neck, and shoulders while lying on his tummy. One of these days he’s going to crawl out of here. Dr is making small changes to his meds to keep up with Baby’s weight gain: upping his diuretic and electrolytes, and reducing the extra calories from 28 to 26.
Our first skin-to-skin session since his infection was amazing.
Day 51: Quick Visit
Baby is in a different crib today with shorter sides, so it’s easier for me to get in to change his diaper and such. He looked like a little Baby Monk in his cute little blanket. I loved holding him in my arms, and he loved being held. ❤️ Nurse Monique hasn’t seen him in a few weeks and said he’s now a “chunk!” I love having familiar nurses who make a difference in how comfortable and smooth our visits go. She made sure I had time to pump, kept me in the loop when she needed to step out for lunch, and checked on me just the right amount. I needed good support from our nurse today since I couldn’t stay long if I wanted to see the boys perform at their school’s Fall Dance Festival.
The nurse practitioner wanted to wean him to level 6 CPAP but I had her double check because I thought they only want to wean twice a week?
My sisters asked me how it feels to have 4 kids now, and I told them I don’t feel like I have 4 kids—I feel like I’m living a double life where my one child is in the hospital, and in the other life I have 3 kids at home. The two lives haven’t converged yet.
Day 52: Snuggles
Nurse Monique says that Baby loves snuggling with the weighted hand beanie, and it helps keep his fingers away from the tubes that he likes to pull on.
He is weaning down to a CPAP level of 6 today. They are increasing the protein in his formula to help his head wound heal because it looks the same as yesterday. Wound Care team will look at it on Friday. The antibiotic is actually for 7 days so a couple of more days left. He was very picky about position when we were doing skin to skin, laid himself across my belly and burrowed down near my arm pit.
He’s now 5lbs 6oz! Today’s goals are to sleep, snuggle, grow, abx (antibiotics), be happy, and have stable oxygen.
Day 53: Relaxing
It’s Fall Break, and what a good day we had together! I came to the NICU feeling relaxed. Today Jer gave me a massage, fed me a nice breakfast, took the dog on a walk with me, and I feel like he breathed life back into me. Last night we watched The Brothers Grimm with L, and even though it was scary it was nice to just have a good meal (thanks Nan!), and be entertained by fairy tales. L was scared to be alone in her room, so she slept in our bed cuddling me the whole night; she hasn’t done that since she was little. I didn’t mind!
Baby Henry and I shared some amazing snuggles skin-to-skin. I gave him a baby massage on his neck and arm, and his heart rate went down to 140, which was super relaxed for him. He snoozed peacefully on me and even smiled in his sleep. His goals today are to sleep and grow, and we definitely did that! As Dr Jenn says, “Hurry up and wait!”
Day 54: First Kisses
Jer and I visited Henry today, and were both able to hold him one after the other for the first time. Baby had a lot of stories to tell his Dad, and while he was with me he was wide awake looking around at everything with his gorgeous eyes. We were able to get the cutest pictures of his face so far!
They were changing his head wound bandage when we walked in, and said it looked so much better; I haven’t heard from the Wound Care Team yet.
I’m jealous that Jeremy got to kiss our baby on the head before me. I’ve been holding off so that I don’t accidentally get him sick. Nurse Trudy said that Baby has the same antibodies that I do through my breastmilk, so it would be OK for me to love on him. They recommend the toes and back of the head for kisses.
It seems like Henry is ready to be done with the CPAP; he popped it right off today while Nurse Trudy was doing his Cares. Dr. Jenn weaned him down to level 5 on the CPAP, and if he does well on that for a couple of days he can move off CPAP and on to hi-flow. I’m super excited about that! We’ll be able to see more of his face and he won’t have the cumbersome tubes all over his head.
Day 55: Kidney Check
Since Baby had a UTI they want to make sure his kidneys are developing properly. The kidney ultrasound shows good size and NO hydronephrosis (swelling), but some brightness not indicative of anything right now; will re-check it with another kidney ultrasound before he leaves here.
His feedings are going up to 42mL to match his growth. IV is out now that the antibiotics are done (yay!!), and he can be given Tylenol as needed for pain or to keep him comfortable with that head wound. Wound Care team is coming Monday to check. Swelling in his groin area still and watching his diaper rash. They cleaned his neck rolls a bit since it was getting cheesy; his bath isn’t until tonight. If he’s ready, he can wean on Monday off CPAP to level 6 Hi-flow. Also another eye exam next week.
I was curious and asked Dr about Baby’s chance of going home by his due date. She said there’s a lot to do, but it’s still possible. It will take 3-4 days for him to wean on each of 4 levels of Hi-flow (6 to 2), then when he reaches lo-flow he can try oral feeding (breastfeeding) consistently gaining weight. For many babies the longest hurdle is the respiratory support, and we really can’t say at this point how long it will take for this cutie to be ready to come home.
Day 56: Happy 36 Weeks
Baby turned 36 weeks corrected gestational age today. When I walked in and we unwrapped him for Cares, he had clothes on! 😍 Bless the Night Nurse who made my day and let me see my Baby this way. I couldn’t stop myself from kissing his foot.
Doctor asked if we could take him off of CPAP today (1 day early) and put him on a high flow! She thinks not having the CPAP on there will help his head wound heal, and that the level 6 Hi-flow will be similar to the level 5 CPAP as far as respiratory support. We hope he does well.
Read about next week: Week 9!
Check out more weeks from our NICU journey here.
