NICU – Day 3

We had a great day in the NICU today!! When hubby & I walked in this afternoon we were greeted by a baby with no CPAP!!! He was breathing room air. And when we returned after dinner we were able to witness his very first feeding. He took in 12cc of breast milk. And after he was nice & milk drunk I was able to hold him for the first time!! I also changed his diaper for the first time. So many exciting firsts!!! My heart was soaring. I was connected to my baby. Sadly we had to leave early because they had a micro-preemie that wasn’t doing well and the family needed to spend what little time they could with their baby   A sad reminder of how very lucky we are, how good our baby is doing and it could always be worse!!

Today’s weight: 4lbs. 15oz.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention when we returned at dinner time they had the lights turned down in the NICU. Gus had his eyes open When hubby & I spoke his eyes tracked our voices. He was so alert for few minutes. He was also a lot calmer being touched. The first day or two he’d get very agitated when touched. But today he seemed to welcome our touch. His O2 stats rose with each loving touch from mommy & daddy!!

NICU – Day 2

Gus is doing good. He has been weaned down to 30% O2! He had another x-ray today. His pneumothorax is gone!!!! The nurse said he may be able to start feeding tomorrow. He is a little jaundice but not enough to require phototherapy. Goober came with me today. It was so sweet to see my youngest and oldest together.

Today’s weight: 4lbs. 15.71oz.

Today I am wearing size 12 jeans. Ok yes they are relaxed fit and I did have my baby 6 weeks early. But it’s still exciting to say 2 days after my baby was born

NICU – Day 1

(My blog name for the baby….he will be refered to as Gus.)

Gus is doing well. He received 2 x-rays so far. The last x-ray showed that he had a pneumothorax. This is basically a collapsed lung/a pocket of air outside the lung. The NICU doc said it’s not big and “may” reabsorb on its own. Otherwise he will need to have it removed via needle extraction or by putting in a chest tube. He is on CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) which helps prevent the air sacs in his lungs from collapsing. He will most likely be on the CPAP for a few days. I cannot hold him right now. I started pumping right after he was born. (Right now I am producing colostrum.) He is on IV fluids. In a day or two they will start feeding him through a feeding tube.

Today’s weight: 5lbs. 0.7oz.

I was prepared for all of this. I can see my sweet baby beyond the tubes and wires. He looks a lot like JoJo & Ry-Guy as an infant. What I was not prepared for………when I first saw him he was awake and had his eyes open. He was grunting (which is normal) and his little eyes were fluttering open and closed. To me it looked as if he was searching for something to focus on. He seemed as if he was panicking. I’m sure this is quite normal…..but I was not prepared to see that.