Bing... bing....bing....

I think I already have PTSD from hearing the beeping here in the NICU. I find now that when I'm at the house or out somewhere I get really anxious when anything beeps. The beeping in here sometimes means something really important, and sometimes less so. And it could be for any of the 7-8 babies in this room. One day several days ago, Isaac's heart rate dropped way down (extreme Brady) and several people tended to him to get it stabilized. I was here alone. Scared me to death...I won't lie. These nurses have nerves of steel.

Isaac seems to do better with less stimulation so they have a sign by his bed (that is a bit silly looking) and now that he doesn't need the light therapy he stays covered all cozily much of the time. Volunteers make these covers for the beds. 

Another sensory part of the NICU experience is the hand washing. The smell of the surgical soap permeates my senses. When you come in the room, you scrub up to your elbows (remove jewelry) with the surgical soap, dry off, then rub down with the surgical gel (kind of like hand sanitizer). In between, if you handle anything you can just Purell your hands. 

We have a little space for sitting by Isaac and a little rolling cabinet to perch on, or we roll a chair from the nurses' station.  When they come to check on Isaac or adjust anything, we just have to hop out of the way. We had a little more room, but poor Jason, the baby in the next bed, had to go back on his ventilator and now there is more equipment here. 

I should mention the other babies. Right now there are 5 others. Some come and go a little more quickly and some just move to another unit (not sure why). But a few have been here longer than us. And sadly, families are rarely here. You would think you would meet and get to know the other families, but we have not. Little Jason next to us has been here since January. He would cry, bottle feed, etc up until he had a complication and had to go back on the vent. I have seen his mother once - the night I was in here in the wee hours (one of Isaac's first nights). She looked pretty young. She held him a bit and fed him part of his bottle and left. I think Michael has seen the dad. I know families must struggle because someone has to work, etc...but I can't imagine not being here. 

We met the mom of the baby on the other side. She said he was born at 25 weeks back in April. I've seen her here two times. She told us that she had an issue with her placenta. She attempted to give the medical description, then just said 'oh it was just jacked up'. 

The nurses here are mostly very good. We've had a couple that were quite brusque and not as friendly and gentle as we would like in our current emotional state. I'm sure things seem so different from their point of view. And it's pretty obvious that we are not the typical 'customers' here. The nurse practitioners have been very helpful over all. They are the ones that really help you understand what is going on.  The only thing I would wish for is more continuity with the nurses. You don't know what to expect at each shift change. However, they are going to have a 'primary' nurse and nurse practitioner, which means they will have them when they are here (but not all the time of course). 

This pic is of rounds. I have tended not to be here when this happens, but was yesterday. The staff goes over all the cases in the room and Laura sat over there when they talked about Isaac. The woman in blue was the neonatologist and to her right the nurse practitioner (also named laura). This is such a good chance to get the big picture and next steps in his treatment. The nurses generally can't tell you as much in that regard.

Let's see...who can be in here? Well Michael and Laura have listed all 4 grandparents as official visitors, meaning we can come in without one of them. When you arrive, you have to call back to the unit to get permission to come in. And only two at a time. 

So...there's my first post about the NICU!