When William was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, better know as the NICU, I spent almost every waking hour sitting by his side. William lived in a little clear box that kept his body temperature regulated. He had a nose cannula that delivered some humidified oxygen through his nose to help keep his lungs full and help dry them out. William also had a feeding tube through his nose that he got his breastmilk from. He was hooked up to lots of monitors and for a day and a half he was under "blue lights" to treat his jaudice. The hardest part about all of this was not being able to hold him. I just sat there watching him and hoping that there would be progress. After a few days I was getting to hold him and then after a few more days his nose cannula came out and we got to try nursing. He was a natural and within the next few days we were heading home.
There was an upside to his nicu stay, Dr. Jennifer Merchant is taking care of him. I use to nanny for her family years ago and she is amazing, it is nice to see an old friend when I was so anxious about little William. The nursing staff was also great. It was a nerve racking experience to have a baby in the NICU and they do an amazing job making sure you understand what is happening and are comfortable on all levels.
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