A Great Day in the NICU

After the frustration waiting 45 minutes for the NICU nursery to open, I came to Natalie’s bed with the greeting, “Mom, what’s missing?” from the nurse.  First I thought- No photo lights-Yeah!  Then I saw the stomach suction tube was missing!  Wow, two great things in one visit but Natalie wasn’t done yet.  She’s sucking on her pacifier as if she’ll never let it go!  Sounds small but that’s a good sign that eating from a bottle or even me might be possible.  They said they might start on milk tomorrow!  I just sat there saying How wonderful over and over again when the song that I’ve been memorizing for her came to mind- “I Stand in Awe of the Presence.”  I just kept signing it over and over for her- “How wonderful, how marvelous, is my savior’s love for me.”  I waited until the last minute to leave and just held her the rest of the time.  She still has her PCVC line in feeding her the TPN solution as well as a heart rate monitor but someone that one less tube made her seem so much less fragile.

Natalie’s Billiruben count was cut in half and is now down to 9.  The nurse said it wouldn’t be unusual for it to come back up since they tried to take it down so fast.  I changed her diaper and the urine was a little brown.  She said that was a good sign that the jaundice was coming out.

Prayer Requests

• That her stomach repair would continue to work.
• That she would be able to tolerate milk.  The nurse told me her stomach is like one that has had a bad flu and is just getting back to eating.  After a bad flu, who wants to eat a steak dinner?  You have to start slow.
• That she would learn to eat from a bottle and from me.
• That we would get the help we need for her.  Already feel like we’ve got a good start and so many people willing to talk to us about their experiences.  I’m getting close to being able to talk about it with all of you- I’ve just needed time to adjust to things.