March 4, 2022 Update
We walked into the NICU on Friday, February 4 to meet our little boy. We had walked into a hospital before when we adopted our daughter so we were familiar with things. But walking into a hospital is like walking into a strange world. Everyone is dressed in greens and blues, lots of new gadgets that beep, lots of different codes to give to get through, automatic doors that have to be opened from the inside. But everyone is cheerful. People were very kind to us.
The NICU is on the second floor. We had to go through a Covid checkpoint at the hospital entrance but it was super easy. Our caseworker was with us. We then rode the elevator up to the second floor. We walked through a long hallway to the NICU. On the walls are lots of pictures of NICU babies who were born early and have now grown up. Each one is a picture of the little tiny baby and the grown up child at 10 years old or 15 years old. They call it the wall of hope.
I tried to imagine how small the little baby boy was that we were going to see. Was he that tiny and wrinkly? He was born at 27 weeks and was 2lbs 4oz. He had been in there for two weeks before we saw him so he had grown some.
The NICU doors unlocked and opened for us. Our caseworker told us we would need to “wash in.” We went to a little side room with three wash tubs and we washed our hands and our lower arms with soap and water.
Our caseworker asked if we had a name for the baby. We told her yes. His name is Pilgrim I said. She said she liked it. She said the nurses have been dying to know what his name was. They were using placeholder names for him because they didn’t just want to call him baby. She said it will help to have his name now.
Then we followed our caseworker into the NICU room.
Our little guy was in the front half of the room in his Isolette bed. It was a clear plastic tub with a clear top cover and clear walls that could fold down as needed. It was also heated to help the baby keep warm. It had a blanket over the top. The nurse pulled the blanket back and we got to see our little guy. He had a Cpap breathing mask on his face and he had a feeding tube. Sometimes you could hear the air through his mask. Because of the air sounds, our 8 year old daughter called him Darth Vader.
The nurse opened the lid and then took off his CPap. He had a full head of dark brown hair. That was wild. I wasn’t expecting that. His hair was thick and full. His little eyes were jet black so no coloring yet. That will come in later after he grows more.
We got to hold him right then. I held him first. He was very small. I remember thinking my daughter felt like a china doll when she was born and she was 8lbs. This little boy was even smaller and felt even tinier.
Kate then got to hold him. She cried some happy tears.
Our caseworker said, “I am into numbers. I think these sorts of things are important. I looked it up and you all sent in your profile book to us on this very day three years ago. So you all got to meet your son three years to the day. I thought that was significant to note for you all.”
We walked into the NICU on Friday, February 4 to meet our little boy. We had walked into a hospital before when we adopted our daughter so we were familiar with things. But walking into a hospital is like walking into a strange world. Everyone is dressed in greens and blues, lots of new gadgets that beep, lots of different codes to give to get through, automatic doors that have to be opened from the inside. But everyone is cheerful. People were very kind to us.
The NICU is on the second floor. We had to go through a Covid checkpoint at the hospital entrance but it was super easy. Our caseworker was with us. We then rode the elevator up to the second floor. We walked through a long hallway to the NICU. On the walls are lots of pictures of NICU babies who were born early and have now grown up. Each one is a picture of the little tiny baby and the grown up child at 10 years old or 15 years old. They call it the wall of hope.
I tried to imagine how small the little baby boy was that we were going to see. Was he that tiny and wrinkly? He was born at 27 weeks and was 2lbs 4oz. He had been in there for two weeks before we saw him so he had grown some.
Our caseworker asked if we had a name for the baby. We told her yes. His name is Pilgrim I said. She said she liked it. She said the nurses have been dying to know what his name was. They were using placeholder names for him because they didn’t just want to call him baby. She said it will help to have his name now.
Then we followed our caseworker into the NICU room.
Our little guy was in the front half of the room in his Isolette bed. It was a clear plastic tub with a clear top cover and clear walls that could fold down as needed. It was also heated to help the baby keep warm. It had a blanket over the top. The nurse pulled the blanket back and we got to see our little guy. He had a Cpap breathing mask on his face and he had a feeding tube. Sometimes you could hear the air through his mask. Because of the air sounds, our 8 year old daughter called him Darth Vader.
The nurse opened the lid and then took off his CPap. He had a full head of dark brown hair. That was wild. I wasn’t expecting that. His hair was thick and full. His little eyes were jet black so no coloring yet. That will come in later after he grows more.
We got to hold him right then. I held him first. He was very small. I remember thinking my daughter felt like a china doll when she was born and she was 8lbs. This little boy was even smaller and felt even tinier.
Kate then got to hold him. She cried some happy tears.
Our caseworker said, “I am into numbers. I think these sorts of things are important. I looked it up and you all sent in your profile book to us on this very day three years ago. So you all got to meet your son three years to the day. I thought that was significant to note for you all.”
Comments
Post a Comment