Cade arrived in the world when he was 34 weeks and 3 days old. Because he was born prematurely, he was taken right from me to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or NICU. Babies born this early often have respiratory problems, trouble eating because their sucking reflexes have yet to develop and a variety of other problems. When Cade arrived in the NICU and was assessed for these problems, the nurses found that he had none of these! He took a breath on his own right after birth, was able to drink from a bottle AND latched on to the breast the day after he was born! He had no infections or other issues and they told us that his only downfall was his size. He needed to gain weight and maintain that weight.
Cade was admitted to the NICU on May 3rd shortly after he was born and remained there for the first 2 weeks and 4 days of his life. It was the longest, most exhausting 2 weeks and 4 days of our lives. That place became our home during that period of time and the wonderful nurses and doctors who cared for him became our second family. Though this was a trying time for us, they made it seem less scary and relieved the stress we felt when we were unable to be there with Cade every second of the day. Leaving him was the hardest thing either of us has ever had to do and if it weren't for those people it would have been so much harder.
During our time in the NICU, we were lucky enough to have an amazing family who put us up in a local hotel for almost the entire time so that we could be near Cade and not have to drive back and forth from Chico. You know who you are and Thank You from the bottom of our hearts! Our days consisted of the following schedule:
7:00am - Wake up, shower, eat breakfast from the hotel lobby (yum!) collect the bottles of pumped milk, pack the diaper bag and snacks for the day
8:30am - Leave for the hospital, arrive, park the car, walk all the way to the entrance, down the long hallway, take the elevator or climb the stairs up a floor, ring the bell at the front door of the NICU, wait to be let in, complete the 2 minute hand washing process and FINALLY make it to see our baby
8:45 am - Meet or greet Cade's nurse for that shift, say hello to him, take his temperature, change his diaper (through the holes in the isolette), feed him, hold him and talk to him for about an hour, talk to the doctor about how he is doing that day and find out what he weighed, wrap him up and put him back in bed for a nap, Stephanie would pump, give the milk to the nurse and walk all the way back to the car. This whole process took about an hour and a half. Cade ate every 3 hours so you do the math for the amount of time to do anything else...including eat!
10:30am - Leave the hospital and either get something to eat or go back to the hotel to rest for a few minutes.
11:30am - Leave for the hospital and do the whole thing over again. We repeated this process to be there to feed him everyday at 9:00am, 12:00pm, 3:00pm, 6:00pm & 9:00pm. Because we both needed to get some sleep, we let the nurses feed him during the overnight feedings.
In addition to this routine, Stephanie got up every 3 hours all night long to pump to make sure Cade had enough milk to eat when we were not there.
Needless to say, it was a full time job and a tiring one at that. It was so worth every tear and tired moment though because we got to bring our beautiful boy home after less than 3 weeks. We feel so fortunate because many of the babies in the NICU have many, many health problems and most have been there for months. I really believe that Cade is so healthy and was able to come home so soon because we were lucky enough to be able to be there with him so much unlike other parents.
I just want to say a huge thank you to a few of our favorite and most wonderful nurses who cared for our son with such love and warmth. Thank you to Jessica, Bella, Jennifer, Maria, Beth, Tracy and anyone else I may be forgetting. We love you and could not have done it without you!
Cade came home with us on Friday May 21, 2010.
Cade was admitted to the NICU on May 3rd shortly after he was born and remained there for the first 2 weeks and 4 days of his life. It was the longest, most exhausting 2 weeks and 4 days of our lives. That place became our home during that period of time and the wonderful nurses and doctors who cared for him became our second family. Though this was a trying time for us, they made it seem less scary and relieved the stress we felt when we were unable to be there with Cade every second of the day. Leaving him was the hardest thing either of us has ever had to do and if it weren't for those people it would have been so much harder.
During our time in the NICU, we were lucky enough to have an amazing family who put us up in a local hotel for almost the entire time so that we could be near Cade and not have to drive back and forth from Chico. You know who you are and Thank You from the bottom of our hearts! Our days consisted of the following schedule:
7:00am - Wake up, shower, eat breakfast from the hotel lobby (yum!) collect the bottles of pumped milk, pack the diaper bag and snacks for the day
8:30am - Leave for the hospital, arrive, park the car, walk all the way to the entrance, down the long hallway, take the elevator or climb the stairs up a floor, ring the bell at the front door of the NICU, wait to be let in, complete the 2 minute hand washing process and FINALLY make it to see our baby
8:45 am - Meet or greet Cade's nurse for that shift, say hello to him, take his temperature, change his diaper (through the holes in the isolette), feed him, hold him and talk to him for about an hour, talk to the doctor about how he is doing that day and find out what he weighed, wrap him up and put him back in bed for a nap, Stephanie would pump, give the milk to the nurse and walk all the way back to the car. This whole process took about an hour and a half. Cade ate every 3 hours so you do the math for the amount of time to do anything else...including eat!
10:30am - Leave the hospital and either get something to eat or go back to the hotel to rest for a few minutes.
11:30am - Leave for the hospital and do the whole thing over again. We repeated this process to be there to feed him everyday at 9:00am, 12:00pm, 3:00pm, 6:00pm & 9:00pm. Because we both needed to get some sleep, we let the nurses feed him during the overnight feedings.
In addition to this routine, Stephanie got up every 3 hours all night long to pump to make sure Cade had enough milk to eat when we were not there.
Needless to say, it was a full time job and a tiring one at that. It was so worth every tear and tired moment though because we got to bring our beautiful boy home after less than 3 weeks. We feel so fortunate because many of the babies in the NICU have many, many health problems and most have been there for months. I really believe that Cade is so healthy and was able to come home so soon because we were lucky enough to be able to be there with him so much unlike other parents.
I just want to say a huge thank you to a few of our favorite and most wonderful nurses who cared for our son with such love and warmth. Thank you to Jessica, Bella, Jennifer, Maria, Beth, Tracy and anyone else I may be forgetting. We love you and could not have done it without you!
Cade came home with us on Friday May 21, 2010.
Cade's name tag on his bed....made with love by one of the nurses
His "big boy" open-air isolette
Under the jaundice lights. Nice mask!
Snuggling with mom after dinner
Me and my tired daddy
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