Life in the NICU....

Life in the NICU is all about the little things.  Mom's who have full term babies usually get to enjoy some snuggle time right after birth. She gets to hold her baby.  She gets to kiss her baby.  She may take for granted changing a diaper or feeding her baby.  NICU moms don't have that opportunity.  Every single tiny milestone is huge.

January 15th-The first time I see Jack Thomas Deakins Heikle III (more on why he is the 3rd later)after the operating room he has a c-pap on.  I can't even see his face nor his eyes. He is under a light to help his jaundice.  

Jack did get to change his diaper for the first time today.  While I am sleeping, Jack visits JT without me.  The nurse tells me when I get there that he has pulled out his feeding tube already, so it had to be replaced.  Jack and I also get informed by a nurse that instead of rubbing his hand that we should hold his hand.  He isn't supposed to be out of the womb yet, and he isn't used to being touched.

January 16- JT's c-pap is off!  I get to see his face today!  He still has his little super hero mask on and his oxygen.  I manage to get to the NICU at just the right time to be able to change his diaper!  Like I said it is the little things.  When I change his diaper, the nurse lifts the top of the isolette.  She pulls his little super hero mask off.  I get to see his whole face.  His very swollen little face.  I cry.  He is kicked back and relaxed.   

Side note:  The doctor had a really hard time getting JT out during my c-section.  He was extremely low.  He really tried to come out vaginally, but my uterus wasn't contracting right.  Dr. Celauro also informed me that I have a tiny pelvis.  She really had to do some pulling to get him out.  Jack says that they had to tell someone to get out of the way during my c-section because they weren't doing something right.  JT had swelling all around his face, and he was very bruised all over his body.  His private area was the worst part.  I am so glad that he will not remember this.

January 17- JT peed on his blanket today!  Whoops!  I think he really just wants his mama to hold him.  The nurse asks me if I will hold JT, so she can change his blanket out.  I ask her if she is serious.  The nurse holds him up and shows me how to hold him.  I am holding my baby for the first time.  I wish Jack was here to see this and take a picture.  Holding your baby for the first time is a really wonderful experience....a NICU first hold is slightly awkward.  I cannot hold him to my body and love on him, I have to hold him straight up from his bed.  I look like the scene from the Lion King when Simba is being presented. 

Dr. Celauro visits me today.  She comes to check on how I am doing and how JT is doing.  When I tell her that he is doing amazing, she starts to tear up.  She wipes the tears from her eyes and tells me that she is glad, that it is wonderful, and that she will be praying for me.

Side note:  I have since done a little research on Dr. Celauro.  She is a truly amazing woman.  I know why she got so teary eyed now that I have read about all of the work that she has done in other countries.  She impressed me on the day that I gave birth with her amazing bedside manner, and I would love for her to deliver another one of my babies in the future.

Katie stops by to visit me today too.  We go see JT, and she takes the cutest video of JT.



January 18-  JT has some new cool stuff in his isolette today.  The occupational therapist brought him a Frederick T Frog.  He loves to kick his leg up on it.  He seems to love to have his feet kicked up somewhere just like me.  I get to ditch my IV today.  First time in 15 days that I don't have an IV in my hand.

January 19-Today is the first time I get to go home.  I cry as we leave JT in the NICU.  I cry when I leave the hospital.  I finally get a decent night's sleep.  It is the longest that I have been at home, since Jack and I moved into our house.

January 20- Jack Thomas is 31 weeks today.  It seems like every day they add another light.  He is going to have his IVs taken out of his belly button today.  Malea, the nurse, tells me that I will be able to hold him after that.  I tell Jack that he is going to miss it, and the nurse says, "No, you are going to hold him right now.  His dad should not miss seeing his mom holding him for the first time."  I insist Jack get his cellphone out because he said he didn't want to take pictures and that we should just enjoy it, but I want pictures so he takes his phone out.  It would be the one day that I don't have my good camera with me.  She swaddles JT up and places him in my arms.  REALLY holding your child and being able to hold them to your chest is the most amazing feeling.  I get to hold him for about 10 minutes, and the only thing I can do is stare at him and cry.  I cannot believe I am finally holding him. We have hit another NICU milestone in fact two in one day because his tubes are taken out later that day.  He no longer needs fluids, antibiotics, or anything else they are pumping into him.

We go back later, and JT has been moved to the next NICU room!  This room has more babies in it, and it seems a little busier.

January 21- I chop 23 inches off my hair today.  When we call to check on JT, we find out he has grown a quarter of an inch already!