We had a pediatrician interview in the morning. this one is literally 7 minutes from our house, so that was a big plus for us. We met with the doctor. He has experience in the NICU and actually knew some of the doctors up at Northside. We liked that he had dealt with preemies before, because that's a big requirement for us. The only thing is that we never really felt comfortable with him, so we have a lot of thinking to do this weekend.
After that Jesse went off to work and I ran to CVS to pick up Claritin for my rash. As I was leaving the Home Depot Delivery people called and said they would be at our house with the new dryer in the next 30 minutes. Well, they showed up less than 30 minutes later and efficiently installed our new dryer and removed the old one. It was early enough I was able to get in 2 loads of laundry before going up to the hospital! Yay!!
After a short stop at Chick-fil-a, I arrived at the hospital a little before 2:00. Little Man was sleeping away, so I changed his uneventful diaper and started to wake him up! I had a lactation consultation at 2:00, so Logan was weighed and placed in my arms for breastfeeding. Well, like the night before, he latched on great after a few minutes of waking up. He knew exactly what to do and started eating for about 10-15 minutes straight! After he was done, he was weighed again and showed he had 8cc of milk. Yay Little Man! After that, we gave him a bottle with the rest of the milk he needed in it. The lactation consultant started him out and he was eating so great, that she kept forcing him to take little breaks so he wouldn't choke himself or stop breathing. She showed me how to do it and I tried, but I couldn't get him in a godo position and he seemed to be tiring out. But she took over again and he did great. Logan and I will just need to practice. He took about 15cc from that, for a total of 23cc. He had the rest through his tube - so overall a successful feeding!
After that we just hung out and waited for Jesse to come up. Jesse got there a little late because traffic was horrible! Stupid Valentine's Day! :) He held our little man for awhile, and then at 6:30 we went down to the 6th floor for dinner and a meeting with other parents of preemies in the NICU. This is a weekly meeting, but we hadn't been able to make it. We weren't sure what to expect at all and were a little hesitant. Well, it turned out to be great. It's like an AA meeting but for NICU parents. Everyone shared their stories of pregnancy and labor and how their babies were doing. There were parents of singletons like us, parents of twins, and one new mom of triplets - and they were conceived naturally with no fertility drugs, etc.!
It was really nice going and hearing what others went through, how their babies are doing and all of the different stages. I think most of us were on the magnesium sulfate. A few stayed in the HRP (high risk pregnancy) wing - which is where I would have been moved if Logan had stayed in a little longer. One stayed in there for 10 weeks. It's really nice to be amongst people who understand what we're going through. They understand the frustration of not knowing when our children are coming home, of what it's like to be on the 2nd floor NICU and be jealous of those babies that move to the 7th floor (feeders & growers). They know what it's like to think "I should still be pregnant." and to almost feel like a part of you is missing when it shouldn't be. They understand the feelings of envy when we walk out to our car after spending hours in the NICU to see another mother going home with her baby. Sure, I get to have my body back sooner than I would have, but that's just a consolation prize. My child is hooked up to monitors and in the NICU. He's not home with us, so yeah, part of me would still rather be large and pregnant. But, we have to learn to live with the cards we are dealt. As one of the dads said, we get to know our little guy 8 weeks earlier than originally planned. We get to really learn how to take care of him. We're not just sent home after two days looking at each other going, "What do we do now?" So we have to find the silver linings to this situation.
After the meeting, we went back upstairs to say goodnight to our little guy and then head home. Here are our Valentine's Day pictures, including the Valentine made for us by the support staff.
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