22 Days in the NICU 9/2/10

In the words of Dr. DeMarie this morning during rounds, "This is Master Lincoln. He's just cruisin' along. You'd never be able to tell he was a 29-weeker." I just loved that he called him Master.

Link weighed in at 4 pounds 7.2 ounces today! That's a whole 2 ounces more than yesterday! I guess I don't have to worry about getting that expensive carseat that can take babies under 5 pounds anymore. At this rate, he'll be well over 5 pounds when he's discharged. Unfortunately, the weight alone wont get him home. He had two great days of nursing, and then today he was just fussy the whole day and didn't want to have anything to do with the "nip drip." Has he caught on to the fact that he can get 38 ml of milk every three hours with zero effort through his tube??? Let's hope that he'll perform a little better tomorrow. It is my birthday, afterall.

My friend from church, Katie Willis, came to visit for a couple hours today. Not only did she drive all the way down and bring me a yummy lunch, she left her own two month-old with a babysitter so she could do it! Now that's a good friend! It was fun to chat with her and introduce her to Link's world. Katie also has put in some time in a NICU as her little one had to have a couple surgeries shortly after birth. It's nice to be able to chat with those that have shared experiences. Most parents get to go through an extremely different process in the first months of their babies lives. It's hard to let go of the expectation of normalcy and deal with all the trauma, and chatting with others who can empathize is helpful. I'm starting to wonder about what I can do in the future to help other premie moms to cope with their unique situations. There is a parent support group at this NICU, and though I've had little interaction thus far with them, the president remembers Lincoln's name when I see her on occasion and asks me how he's doing. That always impresses me since there are at least 15 or so other babies in the unit currently. They also gave us an adorable little hand-knit blanket and hat for him. Throughout this whole process we really have been the recipients of the goodness of others.