Our NICU stay

WARNING: this post might be slightly boring with a lot of numbers and facts, but it is mainly for my documentation. You will be graced with several pictures from our NICU stay at the end :)

Just minutes after Shaw came into the world he was taken to the NICU at Baptist. After his daddy knew that I was okay he immediately went to check on him. Me, on the other hand, didn't get to see him until 36 hours later. To be honest, I was so medicated, I didn't know the floor from the ceiling, but I did know that my sweet boy had come into the world and our situation was not the perfect, ideal situation I had dreamed of. Despite this and my medicated state, I thanked God that he was here and relatively healthy, just little. As soon as he got into the NICU they started him on oxygen through a canula. No vent for my strong fella! He was initially on 24% oxygen (the room air we breath is 21%). They also put him on an IV for fluids and in case any medications were needed (which they weren't). They also put in a feeding tube that initially went in through his mouth. Throughout the first few days, he remained stable with keeping his oxygen and temperature up so they decreased his oxygen and the temp of his isolette. He was also taken out from under the photo light after the first few days. He got down to 3 lb. 8 oz. but by the third day he was already up to 3 lb. 11.8 oz. By day five, he was off all oxygen, which meant his canula was taken out and his feeding tube was moved to his nose. Also, that meant I got to start nursing him. On day 6, I was discharged from the hospital and was secretly hoping the Dr. wanted me to stay longer so I could be in the same facility as him. That night, I had never felt so blessed and broken hearted at the same time. I knew that our son was one of the healthiest babies in the NICU and would have what they consider a short stay, and above all he was alive. I also knew that it was completely against my motherly nature to have to leave my brand new baby at the hospital, for him to not get to go home with us. Luckily, I had very encouraging friends and family that prayed for us and sent encouraging words that helped me get through. The next day started our exhausting routine of getting up at 5:30 (after waking up every three hours during the night to pump) to get to the hospital by 7:30 so I could nurse him and then be there all day, usually until about 6:00 pm. On day 8 he got moved to step down! Huge praise! By that day he was 3 lb. 14 oz. and doing great. Day 9 he was up to 3 lb. 15.6 oz., taking all his feedings well, and nursing up to 3 times a day. On the tenth day, he reached the 4 lb. mark which is a big milestone weighing in at 4 lb. 1 oz. The next few days were still about the same, we were waiting on the three big factors: his weight to be 4 lb 6.4 oz., him to be in an open crib and maintain his temperature, and to take all feedings from a bottle or nursing for 48 hours straight. Once he met those three requirements we were headed home! On the fourteenth day he was up to the required weight and he was put in an open crib. We were told not to get discouraged if his weight slowed down or even dropped because he was using all his energy to maintain his temp on his own. To our surprise it did neither, he still gained! He was also able to keep his temp at 98.3, which was very good! On day 15, we got the best news since our stay....we were getting moved to to "sleep-in" room! This meant that we would get to stay in the hospital with him, even at night, until he was discharged! We were finally getting to experience what most parents experience right after their baby comes into the world! That night his temp dropped to 97.8, which was the lowest the nurses would allow but he was able to maintain it and then bring it back up on his own. On day 16, our last full day, he was up to 4 lb. 6.8 oz, maintained his temp, passed his hearing test, and got his feeding tube completely removed. NOW the big wait was to see how he did with his feedings for the next 24 hours and he did PERFECT!! On day 17, we got to take our sweet boy home!

Like I stated above, the prayers and encouragement from friends and family is what kept us going. People reached out to us through hospital visits, texts, phone calls, Facebook messages, putting us on prayer chains and prayer lists at local churches, and actually praying over us. What great people we have in our life! I was blessed to be able to talk to a few girls that had also been through the experience of having a baby in the NICU. This was HUGE for me, since this is one experience that people really can't say "I understand what your going through" unless they really have been there and done that! These girls encouraged me in so many ways, whether it was telling me that it was okay to have crying days to ways I could increase my milk supply since I had to rely on a pump and not a baby. Several people also sent us bible verses that really helped me understand God's timing and plan. Lastly, the nurses and doctors that we were blessed to have take care of our sweet boy during our stay were nothing short of wonderful. They were all very understanding, sweet, kind, knowledgeable....I could go on and on. Despite the circumstances we were in we had the best experience possible. Even typing this and looking back on our stay, and then looking to my right and seeing the sweet baby that is sound asleep beside me I ALMOST can't remember the heart ache we went through after experiencing the great joy he has brought to us for the last three weeks. I still can't believe I got lucky enough for God to think I deserved him, such a HUGE 6 lb. 3.1 oz. blessing he is :). Yes, he has gained almost 3 lb. in 6 weeks!! Here are a FEW of the many pictures I took during our stay.

About an hour old

 Daddy getting to see his little man for the first time



 Sweet, sweet

 Trying to understand all the little details

My first time to see him

 First time to hold him

 Sweet moments

Daddy's first time to hold him

Swollen little face from IV fluids

 With his cool shades on and his monkey

 Sweet little foot

He loved us "holding" him like this

Mommy's first time to change a diaper (which by the way is a lot harder in an isolette) 

Daddy's first time with a diaper change

 His set up in the "Big Unit"

Yay for step down

In an open crib

Everything out except the feeding tube

 Going home!!!

 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  John 14:27

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1