I woke up at 6am thinking, “I guess I’ll go see the baby in NICU now.” Then I realized I was very hungry and needed a shower, so I pumped milk and sent it down to the baby. In doing so, the nurses knew I was awake and wanted to check my blood pressure etc. Then lactation consultant came and wanted to know how things were going. I don’t know, I would like to go downstairs the see the baby.
Then the NICU doctor came to update me on the baby.
The baby did great feeding using the special bottle. Then she threw up all night long. It was brown and bloody. So they x-rayed her tummy to make sure nothing weird was going on. It’s probably just stuff she swallowed during birth. Thank you for the emotional rollercoaster first thing in the morning.
I finally got to go down to the NICU to see the baby.
Sometime around 9am, Duane joined me in the NICU and we got the update on the baby. Grandma & Monkey were up in my room. So I went to see Monkey, eat 2nd breakfast, and pump milk.
Duane learned how to use the special bottle to feed Lioness. I missed that lesson because Monkey had a giant diaper explosion, and Dada forgot to bring her diapers. So I had a naked toddler in my hospital room and no idea what to do about it. But we’re in a giant hospital. So my nurse called over to the children’s hospital and got some diapers for us.
I took Monkey down to see her sister. We’re in a “pod” with only 1 other baby, so Monkey was completely distracted by the fact there were “two babies!”
Duane took Monkey back to the Ronald McDonald House to get her a pair of pants, and put her down for a nap. Grandma & I sat with the baby, and then I left them and went to my room for lunch and more pumping milk. Then Grandma went back to the Ronald McDonald House to care for Monkey, while Duane joined me in the NICU taking turns holding the baby.
More Updates from all the Specialists
The hearing Doctor said they would do a hearing test while the baby is in the NICU, but that didn’t happen yet. The test is pass/fail. If she passes, that’s great! If she fails, that could just mean she has fluid in her ears or something. But she does have ears!
At some point we’ll have a consolation with the crainofacial surgeon. We will find out more about fixing the cleft pallet, and if the baby will need jaw surgery or anything else like that.
When Will We Get to Take Her Home?
The NICU doctor said the baby has to stay in the NICU until she keeps milk down. She did not puke all day, so I asked the charge nurse if she would be released today or tomorrow. Her response was, “the baby is in the NICU until she’s proficient at using the special bottle.” They want to make sure she can eat before they let us take her. Or they can teach us to use the feeding tube, but we would all prefer the bottle.
So she spent another night in the NICU and I had a quite night in my room in the hospital. In the NICU, I’m mama caring for my baby. Then I go upstairs to pump milk, and suddenly I’m the patient again, with a nurse checking my blood pressure etc. I have to remind myself that I did just birth a baby and do need to take it easy. But tomorrow, I get released from the hospital and will no longer have a waitress to refill my water bottle, and take pumped milk to the baby in the middle of the night.
