A Day In The Life...Nicu Parent!

A day in the life of a Nicu parent is something no one understands until they have been there and done it! I dont mean any offense to anyone but until this with Hudson we were "oblivious" to this world! We had no knowledge what went on in this world and honestly why would we? Jagger was born at almost 41 weeks and healthy as a horse! I know alot of people probably wonder what I do while I am there!
I wake up early (not every morning-I do treat myself to an extra hour once a week! ) and get ready! By this timeI have already pumped 2 times at least! Once before I officially get up and then before I walk out the door! (Pumping is not an easy job! It takes alot of your time up and especially when you stay consistent with it! I am pumping around every 3 to 3.5 hours! Ok enough about that Im sure that was too much info! But its alot of my day!
I grab a banana or a brownie :),whichever is available for breakfast and then I am out the door to the hospital! The hospital is only a block so its not far! Once I get there and get parked, I get my badge on to get inside of hospital! Everyone that walks through the door either has to have a badge or a sticker! Since we are long term we have lanyards that we wear! I have started walking the stairs now to the Nicu! I figure any exercise is better than none! When I finally get to the Nicu after saying Good Morning to everyone its time to scrub in! This is my least favorite part! There are 4 sinks set up with iodine packets to use for scrubbing! They want you to take off all jewelry and scrub up to elbows for 2 minutes! The iodine is horrible! My hands are very dry from having to use it so much! Now that my hands are all clean, its off to his room! As I walk down the hall my heart hurts! I look from side to side seeing hurting parents worried too death over their sweet babies! Its very heartbreaking! I not only worry about mine but I have made such good friends that now I worry about the others! As I walk into Hudson's room, normally his lights are off and he is all snuggled up sleeping good! His bubble cpap is making its bubbling noise and then his alarms are dinging too! Its never fully quiet, Which i am happy for- that would make me crazy! The nurse will always stick their head in and say hey! Then our day starts! The doctor and team normally makes rounds anywhere between 9-12! I dont like this because that leaves a pretty big gap! I like being there for rounds so I know what is going on! Rounds remind me of a tv show! Doctors, nurse, nurse practitioner, students, interns, etc! I really enjoy watching it all! Our day is full of the nurse in and out checking on him, doctors, physical therapist, speech therapist, social workers, lactation consultant, volunteers, cleaners, respiratory, eye exams, xrays...,etc! Constant stuff! Its overwhelming at times but everyone is super wonderful! I thank God for all of them and all the support they give us! After rounds I sometimes I get a quick cat nap in or if Hudson is doing good then the nurses tell me its time to get some fresh air- thats our code for go get some lunch and walk around Target or Marshalls! Thank goodness I got some gift cards for Christmas! I normally spend 1-1.5 hour away from hospital and then I head back! The rest of the day is spent helping as much as I can with Hudson, reading, visiting with the nurse and trying to make sure the everyone in the family knows what is going on! I normally leave the hospital around 10 at night sometimes later depending on if he is doing well or not! The days are extremely long and very emotional! Its amazing how you can have so many emotions in one day! We see so much come and go through the doors. Even when we have a small bad moment I have always felt God's presence with us! There are times when I have my mini melt down but he is there to pick me! I am still praying we are home by Mother's Day! They really are not telling us a date and I don't blame them! They don't want to get our hopes up! Its much easier to take it one day at a time and really thats how we are suppose to be with life anyway because we are not promised tomorrow! I just can not thank everyone enough for the continued prayers and support we are receiving. This is still a tough journey for us that will continue even when he is out of the hospital!
Hope everyone has a blessed night!