Life in the NICU

The day after my water broke the NICU team came in and talked to Danny and I about what we could expect with having a 6 week premature baby. They told us that we should expect him to be in the NICU until his due date maybe a few weeks before just depending. That was so sad to me b/c 6 weeks is a long time for a baby to be at the hospital. When Brayson was born he didn't need help breathing b/c his lungs had matured b/c of the steroid shots. He actually scored 9/9 on his APGARS and his breathing was at 100%. He was bigger than expected we were told earlier in the week between 4 1/2 to 5 lbs. When Brayson came out he was so healthy and was plump and did not look like a premature baby. He did have an IV put in him b/c of precautions b/c my water had been broken for so long. He would have to be on antibiotics for 2 days and they would test him to make sure he was okay and no infection.

After a few hours of sleep after he was born I was anxious to go and see my baby. I went down there and he was just so sweet and so small but he looked healthy and good and big especially compared to the other babies in the NICU. A little while later I met with the lactation consultant and started pumping to give him my milk. Later that day I went down with my dad. They had to draw his blood then and pricked his poor little foot and he cried and cried and I cried and cried that was so hard for me. I did get to hold him and even try to feed him. It was so amazing to hold and cuddle my baby. My heart just grew and grew for my little guy. We visited him as much as we could that day and later in the evening he got moved to another part of the NICU. I continued to pump and bring him down milk.

The day after was a tough day for Brayson. He had a feeding tube put in and they also had to put an IV in his head b/c his poor veins in his hands had blown b/c they were so tiny. That was so hard to see tubes and needles in my baby's head. Later that day he also had developed jaundice and had to go under the bili lights and I couldn't hold him at all. I was so sad. I did get to hold him later that evening and we went back for his 11 o clock feeding and Danny even got to feed him which was so nice. We were able to change his diaper and hold him for a few minutes. Sat he was doing better but still needed the lights. We met with the lactation consultant again down in the NICU so I could get him to latch on and eat from me. He did great with that and it was so awesome. My milk had come in full force that day and my boobs were so heavy and sore. I was then released from the hospital. After being in there for a week I was so happy to get outside and go home but at the same time I was so sad I had to leave my baby. We had to go to the store and get a few things that Brayson would need that we didn't have yet. My parents went around 8 that night and were so happy b/c they got to feed him and hold him. We went in at 11 that night and got to feed him and the NICU nurse told us he was doing so well and didn't expect him to be in there for very long. Sunday was Father's day and the 1st for Danny! We got a call that am telling us that Brayson had been moved to the Annex NICU, which is the stepdown NICU for the babies getting ready to be released from the hospital. What a great Father's Day present. Brayson had his feeding tube out and the IV's out and was out from the lights. It was so nice to see. He was also in an open crib and maintaining his own temperature. The NICU nurse also made Danny a father's day card which was so sweet. Danny loved it. We visited him a few times that day so I could feed him and bring him milk. Monday was pretty much the same he continued to improve and we visited him as much as possible. He got circumcised and we were told he was being discharged the following day!! We watched the discharge videos and got excited about him coming home. Brayson was doing good on eating and breastfeeding.

On Tuesday I hadn't gotten a call yet so around 11 I called and they said they were still waiting for him to be discharged by the Dr. So we ran a few errands and got to the hospital around 1 or 1:30. I was starting to feel the same rib pain I had felt in the beginning of May. So I was walking around in pain trying to ignore it. It took about 3 hours before they were able to discharge him but then he was all ours.  We brought him home and my family came over and had dinner with us. I continued trying to feed him.  My rib was starting to hurt worse and worse and I just didn't feel good but I wanted to take care of my baby. After all how lucky were we that our 6 week early baby came home in 5 days? When we got home our a/c proceeded to break and we had to get someone out to the house immediately with a brand new baby at home it was way to hot. The day before that our water heater had gone out again so we weren't having the best of luck. After everyone left I went to take a nap in between feedings but could not fall asleep b/c I was in a lot of pain. I called my mom and told her and just cried from not feeling good. That night we woke up every 3 hrs to feed the baby. I would pump and Danny would feed him b/c I was in to much pain to hold him and try to feed him. By 5am I was in so much pain and having another attack I was sweaty and nauseous and weak and I couldn't even hold my baby b/c I was afraid I was about to throw up. I curled up in a ball and after not sleeping all night I passed out. I had called the Dr. over night and had an appt at 11 and Brayson had his checkup with the pedi at 10am.