Once
you were born, they could tell you needed more support to thrive. You were
admitted to the NICU, and mommy and daddy were told that we can expect you to
remain in the NICU until your due date. This was 6 weeks away, because you were
born at 34 weeks 3 days.
The
first week of your life got scary fast. Daddy gave you a blessing, and it
helped us feel peace because the Spirit was very strong, but you had quite a
fight before you. You had a scalp IV, lines placed in
your umbilical cord, lights on you for jaundice, a feeding tube, caffeine, antibiotics, a hole in your heart (that closed up on its own), you started out with a nasal cannula for oxygen, then went to CPAP, and eventually they had to put you on a ventilator. To help your lungs work better you received surfactant and were rotated like a little rotisserie chicken. I never prayed so hard, and I asked everyone for their prayers as well.
Each
week you got better and better, and the countdown of when we could go home
began two weeks after you were born. The countdown had to be reset several
times because you stopped breathing and wouldn’t start breathing without being roused. Mommy and Daddy ached
to bring you home, but were grateful that the hospital had a camera that was on
you almost constantly, so we could see you even when we were at home. One night
(at 1 am) mommy was sobbing because she needed to be close to you, she couldn’t
stop crying. Daddy suggested we drive
over to the hospital, so we did and peace was restored, until we had to leave
you again. That was one of the hardest things to do. Each step away from you
felt like my heart was being torn apart. How could I be expected to walk away
from my precious baby girl? The wonderful nurses made it possible for me to
feel safe, they knew a lot more about keeping you safe then I did, and I was
grateful for them! Finally, we were told we could room in with you (without the
devastating phone call 30 minutes later saying your countdown was reset). This
means we spent a night at the hospital in a separate room (they actually gave
us 2 nights), with you in a bed right next to us, feeding you, changing you,
and watching over you ourselves. That was terrifying but exciting.
June
2, 2017 we got to take you for your “ride.”
The nurses in the NICU would say “ride” instead of go home, because they
found they generally had better outcomes if they didn’t jinx it.
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| 04/25 Fighting hard to get your lungs working. |
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| Picture of the IV that had to be placed in you head. |
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| Under the lights for your jaundice. |
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| Protecting your little eyes with some stylish goggles. |
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| Out of the lights rocking you CPAP helmet. |
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| Darling little squishy face. |
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| 04/30 1 week old. CPAP Helmet came off, lines in your belly taken out, and mom gave you a bath. |
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| 05/04 You and your accomplice are obeying the rules, and you'll be off high flow oxygen soon. |
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| 05/05 Tried to nurse today, and you can regulate your own temperature. You're now in a big girl bed! |
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05/07 2 weeks old. Spiky hair after your bath. Your hair was so long we could see it flowing in the ultrasounds.
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