#164 NICU(te) Baby Girl

If you're reading my blog, you probably have come from Tess's Facebook page, where you can see lots of updates on Mia. However, just in case you don't know what's going on with Mia, here's the lastest as of Friday, February 21: Mia is doing really well. She is in a crib now and is working on learning to eat by mouth instead of by feeding tube. We don't have a timetable as to when we'll come home yet, but the doctors and nurses are all very encouraging.

Back in post #162 I told the story of Mia's birth. Today I thought I would continue by describing my first few days with her in the NICU.

I arrived at Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines a couple hours after Mia. After checking in at the front desk, I found her sleeping in a bassinet under a heater in her room. The on-duty nurse told me Mia was still doing well. The only update was that they had moved her IV from her umbilical cord to her arm. Mia's heartrate, respiration rate, and oxygen saturation level were being monitored, and her temperature was being carefully controlled. I spent a little time talking and singing to Mia, changed my first preemie diaper, and then tried to settle in for a night in the NICU.

So many wires!

With a blanket, sheet, and pillow on a pull-out couch I slept in spurts. Every so often I'd wake up to Mia crying or a nurse coming in to check on her. I'd go talk to Mia and put my hand on her head. That first night Mia scared me by throwing up brownish-colored blood. When the nurses saw that, they made use of the tube running down her mouth to her stomach to suck out a little more. (Later on, when I was more awake to ask, I learned that Mia had swallowed some of her mom's blood during birth. It's fairly common.)

The next day I really got to hold Mia for the first time. Once again her tiny weight shocked me. We cuddled skin-to-skin to help with her development. Mia also started eating through her feeding tube: 4mL every 3 hours. (That's about 1 fl. oz. in a day.) Before each feeding the nurse would check the contents of her stomach to see how she was digesting. Gradually the amount of old blood coming out of her stomach decreased. My mother-in-law came to visit for a little bit in the afternoon. During the evening, Mia was placed under a special blue light to help with her skin color. She was quite the sight with her special mask on!

Tummy time!

Ready to "sunbathe"

Blue light life

I tried my best to adjust to NICU life, but I felt llike I was on high alert all the time. After receiving good reports from the doctor making rounds and the different nurses rotating in and out, I wasn't really worried about Mia's health, but it was hard to get comfortable. I felt very alone; I missed Tess and Lanie. I was glad to be with my daughter and get a chance to bond with her, but I always wondered if I was getting in the way of the hospital staff. I spent  Friday to Sunday in the same clothes, feeling less and less human as time went on.

On Sunday Mia got released from the blue light. Because she was so stable, there was no longer a need for instant access, so she moved from the basinet to an isolette, where her temperature could still be easily controlled. My parents came to visit for a little while. Lanie came, too, but because she was getting over a cold and still coughing, she wasn't able to meet her little sister. I loved being able to play with Lanie, but saying good-bye to her was heartbreaking. (She spent the next week with grandparents in Wisconsin.) I went back to Mia's room and cried.

Resting up during another big day

Looking good!

Inside the isolette

Mia's nurses kept putting blankets and bumpers around her so that she would feel enclosed and secure like she was still in the womb. But Mia is a fiesty one. No matter how many things the nurses used to surround her, she would keep on kicking until she broke free. On Monday the nurse placed Mia in a sleeping sack, which kept her in place a little more.

Smiles for the sleep sack

By late Monday afternoon I was feeling pretty good about Mia. Then Tess, still in the hospital in Clarion, called me. Her blood pressure was still high, so she was being kept in the hospital for a fourth night. Our parents had all gone home. Tess was beyond overwhelmed. So Monday evening I left Mia and rushed back to spend a night with Tess. She was released with some restrictions and a bunch of medication on Tuesday. We rushed down to Des Moines to find Mia swaddled up. Tess got to hold Mia for the first time. That evening we began our stay at the Ronald McDonald House, where we slept in a real bed for the first time since the previous Thursday night. We slept well and woke up with new hope. Tess and I were together with Mia now.

Swaddle modeling

Mommy's here!

Let's leave it there for today. Until next time,
Grace and peace,
BMH