It was a Wednesday when I woke up uncomfortable and slightly wet. We like to joke that our little girl broke my water because she was so big, born at 37 weeks and 12 lb 13 oz. She, just like my other two, was whisked away to the NICU pretty quick. That was expected at this point. What was not expected was the six-week stay in the McKay-Dee Hospital NICU, during the height of Covid, when only one parent was allowed to visit at a time. When the curtains were drawn around her crib, I would slip my mask off so she could see me and recognize her mommy. Once, a doctor pulled her mask off for a few seconds to give my daughter a big smile. I liked that doctor the best after that.
Our baby’s size made her a favorite in the unit. Nurses working elsewhere in the NICU would come to see “the three-month old newborn”. She needed bigger clothes than any other baby, and had thigh rolls for miles. I loved holding her close, doing skin-to-skin despite the fact she didn’t like to nurse. Both parents had to take turns being with her, since we had two NICU grads at home. It was hard balancing life at home and life in the NICU, but we did it, thanks to family, friends, and God.
She went from being intubated and having an umbilical line in an incubator, to nasal oxygen and a feeding tube in a crib, and then to an ng feeding tube and no oxygen in a crib borrowed from the pediatric unit. She kept improving, but the progress was slow. At 42 weeks (age would-be gestation) we faced a choice: Take her home with the ng tube, or move her to pediatrics until she learns to eat better. We decided to take her home, and so trained to place the tube, make sure it’s in her stomach not her lungs, and feed her the right amount at the right speed. It was stressful, and though we were thrilled to have her home, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to take care of her as well as I needed to.
It was her daddy that was the better nurse. When she threw up her tube with her dinner, it was daddy who successfully replaced it, after mommy’s uncomfortable and failed attempt. But, she did learn to eat. She gained hardly any weight, but the doctors weren’t too worried. Now, a year and a half later, she has only gained six pounds from her birth weight, dropping from the 98th percentile to the 30th. Yet, thankfully, she still has chubby thighs.
She is healthy, happy, snuggly, assertive, and very loved. She is finally walking, clumsily and without the ability to step over things, and has a few words down: Water, cracker, banana, Nana, Grandma, Mama, and Dada. Her brothers love her, and she loves them, even when they get into sometimes shrill arguments over toys and mommy’s lap. Every day with her is a joy, and we have them because of those weeks in the NICU.
Presents 4 Preemies 