Goodbye St.Mark's NICU!

We're going home tomorrow!!! Before we do, I thought I'd give you a tour of the NICU. Here is the entrance--on the wall is an intercom where I say "This is Emily Peery, and I'm here to see the XXX baby." (I left out the birthmom's last name for her privacy). Then these doors swing wide open.

This is the hand washing station where you use your leg to turn on the water, scrub with soap, then rinse and dry.

This is the monitor that shows the baby's vital signs. The top line is his heart rate, then his breathing, and finally his oxygen saturation. I spent many hours looking at this screen. At first, his oxygen levels were not great--89, 90, 91. I remember looking around at the other baby monitors and envying their high numbers. Now, his levels are at 99 and 100 regularly.

This is the pump that used to feed Jacob through his NG tube. They put any formula he hadn't eaten into a syringe, connected it to the NG tube, and put the syringe in this machine. It slowly pushed the formula into his tummy.

This is what Jacob usually looked like. Unless they are eating or having "cares" done (temperature, diaper change, weight, blood pressure, etc.) all the babies are sleeping and covered. They do this to help reduce stimulation, which is particularly important for premature babies, or those recovering from trauma. But it's funny to walk in, look around, and think "Where are the babies?"

And here he is! All bundled up and covered in burp cloths. I have to say my favorite thing is unbundling him and seeing his hands and feet. And then burping him on my shoulder and cuddling his little face next to mine.

I can't tell you HOW EXCITED we are to take him home! I appreciate all the CNA's, doctors, and nurses who have taken such good care of him. They have been wonderful.

Emily