NICU

I have read many blogs over the years. Several dealing with infertility, IVF, experiances in the NICU. Those women are my heroes, dealing with situations that don't always have a happy ending. It almost pains me to say that my NICU experiance wasn't terrible at all. Hell, it didn't even really have any terrible moments that made my heart leap out of my chest and question the care Alexa was being given. In all honesty, it was oddly pleasant. I had a wonderful team of Neonatologists for her, and an excellent nursing staff. The hardest moment spent in those nurseries was leaving her there every night, I cried most nights. But I also knew that when she was ready, and not a moment sooner, would I bring her home. St Joe's is known along the East coast for its incredible childrens hospital. I suppose due to the excellent care I had received, I had the utmost faith in the staff of St Joe's on every level. The first time I had laid eyes upon Alexa following her birth was more than 24 hours later. I had a horrible time getting out of bed post op, and swore that I was never going to walk again. Keep in mind I had been in bed for over 60 days at this point, it was like my legs forgot entirely what they're purpose was. My Mom was at the hospital with me since the previous day, she had yet to leave my side. She wheeled me down to the NICU and I was taken to a room where the teeny tiny preemies were. In an incubator, with tubes and wires all over the place, laid my little girl.

I suppose in alot of ways its shocking for anyone to see a baby like that. Most people think of healthy, chubby little ones when they think of a new born. I don't know what a normal pregnancy is like, no less a normal birth. To me, she was beautiful - wires and all. She had yet to even start eating at that point. She was being fed intraveinously all the things she needed. They were going to insert a gavage tube later that day down her nose and throat into her belly to see how well she took to formula. The Doctors told me she was doing very well, not so hot in the maintaining body temperature department, but hey, being born 2 months early takes a lot out of a girl. She was doing well with her sugar levels, breathing without any assistance, and all around healthy for a 3 pounder. That evening, she had her first 4cc's of Preemie Similac, and did well on it. Over a 2 week period from there on in, we worked her up to 60 cc's every 3 hours.

Alexa spent exactly 5 days in the NICU, and 9 days in the intermediate nurseries. She did fantastic, gaining weight slowly but surely after losing some initially. She learned to maintain her body temperature and was taken out of her isolette and put into an open crib within a week, and the Doctors didn't have a bad thing to say about her. She did fantastic for someone so teeny tiny.
On December 13th, she came home. She now weighed 4 pounds 1 ounce. It snowed that morning, the first substantial snow of the year.I dressed her in what seemed to be the smallest velour outfit in the world, wrapped her in a multitude of blankets, and was released from the Intermediate nursery with a clean bill of health, and a list of well, instructions on how to care for my newborn. Before leaving St Joe's that day, I made a stop on Seton 3, and showed all the nurses who took such wonderful care of me the baby we had all worked so hard to bring into this world healthy. I also stopped down in Antenatal - where my daily ultrasounds were done - and showed all the techs my daughter. I ran into Dr. Khoury who actually cried tears of happiness that it all ended so well and she was coming home with me. I left that hospital for the last time that day, after living there for a month myself and coming there for 12-14 hours a day to spend with Alexa for 2 weeks. 6 weeks total of an innumberable amount of time spent there, and worth every single second.

There will never be enough words to say the proper 'Thank you' that I feel everyone at that hospital deserves for the things they did for my daugher and I. They helped give me the greatest gift I will ever receive. I am blessed beyond blessed, God has given me the most incredible, beautiful and amazing baby I could have dreamed of.