He finally came home on Saturday! Cassius has been home since then and it’s been a great new adventure that we’ve been waiting for ever since he’s been born. NICU was an experience that has gave us a whole different outlook on life. We are definitely glad that that chapter is over and done with. Cassius has been really easy so far. The only thing that I have to get adjusted to is waking up every two to three hours. Him being a preemie has me extra freaked out at night when I hear him make a weird noise but still really worth all the sleepless hours so far. For now talk to yall later it’s feeding time!
Month: August 2015
Day 35.
It still seems that Cassius was just born a week ago. The trips to the nicu have all blurred together. Nurses all look the same to me now. I’ve waited 20 mins driving around the parking lot to make sure I get a spot that’s close to the entrance , and with shade. I’ve eaten terrible hospital cafeteria food, 4 bucks for a slice of pizza! Doctors come in and say, “Have any questions?”. Yeah when can we get the fuck out of here is the first one that comes to mind. I usually ask though if anything major has changed that we should be concerned about and I get the same answer. “No.” So if you’re wondering , like I have this past month, why the fuck are we here, this is the break down.
Preemies have all sorts of shit that need to develop. They didn’t have time to cook and mature in the womb and they have to do all that still. Doctors and nurses still go off our due date and still tell us it could take all the way up until then for him to go home. Preemies usually need help to breathe, have jaundice, can’t control their body temperature and can’t eat off a breast or bottle yet. So in order for a baby to go home they need to do all of that with no complications. By complications I mean heart rate has to stay at a certain level and oxygen levels have to stay at a certain amount or else these fucking machines go out and it takes everything in your not to smash the fucking thing and chuck it to the nearest staff person.
Luckily for us our son was off a breathing tube within a week, under the jaundice light for about the same amount of time. He’s been gaining weight steadily everyday and doctors are already talking about getting him to go home soon. Till next time everyone much love and take care.
Coming to terms of being a NICU dad.
Everyone always says that when you have a baby all your plans and being in control of everything go out the door, being a NICU dad has shown me that more than ever.
So far our 31 weeker (baby born at 31 weeks) has been in the NICU for 3 weeks 3 days. It’s been a mission so far for sure. Cassius is still doing great and making great progress everyday so that means that he gets to come sooner than his due date HOPEFULLY. They told us that regardless it could take up until his due date for him to be released. They say that because they don’t want you to have your hopes up for a specific day and then the baby does something weird like have his heat stop or skip a beat and then they have to keep him in even longer.
The best thing I could do right now is just showing up and being there. There is not much else besides waiting to see how he progresses everyday. I sit with him and hold him during his feedings and have been starting to read to him here and there. He sleeps 20 hours out of 24 hours of the day which is a lot of down time and just sitting by his bed. But really thats all you can do, that and be there for my wife. Its been difficult all around, with her stressing about pumping milk, which not all women do right away to the amount that shes been pumping has had her freaking out. We did find out though that the Medela breast pump has been one of the best pumps that she has used. We had to get a medical grade one because of him being a preemie. Insurance sent her a pump that hurt and that didn’t get as much milk out as the Medela. So definitly do your research and compare pumps because it does make a difference.
Well thats it for now so far, have fun!
New Dad Smell 