This has been one of the hardest days of mine and Ben's life. No parent should have to leave their child alone at the hospital, no matter how good of care the child might be in. There's really nothing more that I can say than that. (Needless to say, I now understand how my parents must have felt all those times I was in the hospital.) I was discharged early in the morning (about 9ish), but since we lived so far away and the occupational therapist was coming to work with Noah in the afternoon, my nurse allowed us to stay in my room as long as we needed (well, up until 6:30 at shift change).
Accomplishments of the day: Sam and Noah had some "Kangaroo Care" time (skin-to-skin... it helps promote healthy brain development and, well, just makes everybody involved feel better).
Noah lying "prone" in his incubator bed under the Bili lights. Notice how his legs are splayed out like a frog! That's due to him being breech in utero and will correct itself quickly and naturally.
His Daddy's hands always calm him down when he gets upset. He loves the firm touch that Ben gives him.
Noah and Mommy enjoying some skin-to-skin time after attempting to breastfeed. Look how relaxed he is when I get to hold him!
The tube/syringe on the side of the rocker is giving him the rest of his formula (I'm not making quite enough milk yet). It's called a gavage tube and it allows him to be fed without having to "suck".
Thank goodness for a sweet lady at the Pump Station who met us at her home to get us our rental breast pump - Rita, you helped us in so many more ways that you will ever know!
And, just as helpful and spirit-lifting were Greg and Angie who brought us dinner and sat with us until we drove back up to visit Noah during his late night touch time. Thank goodness for good friends.
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