The revolving door

Today a new kid arrived with wide-eyed parents starting the journey of the NICU, while another preemie got to go home. I hate to see the new parents arrive with mothers still sore from the very recent birthing experience and new fathers wide-eyed and unsure of what happens next. I want to hug them and tell them it will all be alright but there are no guarantees in the NICU so I just share a supportive smile if I get the chance. I do love seeing the babies go home though. I'm jealous but it helps to see others make progress and get the heck out of the NICU!

Gesina was taken off her emergency inhaler seizure med today and I didn't see any seizures. She was also increased on one of the other three meds. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and the seizures to kick in but so far, so good. The doctors have increased her feeding and tomorrow they are going to take her off the IV nutrition. This means she will only have the central line and no other needles in her hands and feet. I did talk to one of the doctors who reminded me that there are ups and downs and to not get discouraged. I decided that I'll focus on not getting anxious about the bad things that could happen either... this is easier said than done though. 

On the positive side, she was a bit more alert now that she is off the emergency seizure med. She tried to open her eyes a lot more and she really would have cried about being hungry and having a dirty diaper if she could have. Her little face turns bright red and crumples up but when she opens her mouth, nothing comes out... yet. I did get to hold her and she kept yawning, stretching, pushing her feet against my hands. I like to think she was doing some leg presses to build up her strength but I'm sure she was just filling her diaper! Either way, holding her calms us both down and I left with a smile on my face. My little girl is 2 weeks old and maybe, just maybe, tomorrow she'll be awake and able to show me more of her personality. I can't wait for her to give me a hard time (you can remind me I said that when I'm up for a 3 am feeding with a crying baby)!