Week One: The Honeymoon

The morning after he was born, we woke up early to meet with Landon's doctors to get the news of how bad his lungs were. We knew they must be sufficient for them to put a ventilator in, which is more than any doctor had told us would be possible. We had our miracle baby. The doctors told us that his lungs were actually a lot better than they had expected for a baby his age. In fact within a day they were able to take him off the super jet ventilator and put him on a regular one. Two days after he was born, they attempted to take him off the ventilator all together. That didn't go quite so well because Landon decided he didn't really feel much like breathing after 40 minutes off the ventilator. No one was too upset though because he was only 2 days old and was probably just tired out. Ryan and I were just happy with the attempt given we were told he wouldn't be able to breathe even with the assistance of a vent before he was born and here he was breathing on his own.

Everyone was impressed with his progress, but warned us that the first week or two was usually considered the honeymoon period. After that, small babies tend to get tired out and may decline. We half-heartedly listened to this because we were riding the high of having a living breathing baby against the odds.

In the week we really got to see Landon's personality. He HATED being wet and would flail about and get the grumpiest face when his diaper needed to be changed. He also didn't care for the sound of alarms and in the NICU there is always an alarm going off. To counteract this he would put his little hands over his ears. It was really cute and confirmed that our kid had some stellar hearing. It was hard to imagine someone so small could be so mighty.

The nurses began to fall in love with him as much as we did. Nicu nursing is a little bit like eharmony. Each baby has a primary nurse and a nursing team who is chosen when the parents and nurse realize they like each other's style or when a nurse falls for a baby (and who wouldn't fall for Landon). We were lucky to find nurses who are Type A like me and who would advocate for Landon, even if it meant disagreeing with the doctors. More importantly, Landon's nursing team work with him enough to know his likes and dislikes and don't just make decisions based on protocol but on Landon himself. This was important because we would be in the NICU at least until my original due in July, at least 3 months.

The NICU has a wonderful philosophy of keeping the parents involved. Ryan and I are able to attend rounds when the doctor and nursing staff discuss Landon's care plan for the day and can even bring up questions or suggestions for his care. The doctors will often ask us what we think about how Landon looks because they know how we are always there and know our baby best. We are also able to contribute in his care by changing his diaper, or cleaning off his mouth, or just holding his hand so he knows we are there. It is hard not to hold him, but the nurses assure us that he knows who his parents are and will do better because we are there for him.

This week was made even easier because we had some friends who had recently went through a long NICU stay, who were able to give us advice and help us from completely going crazy. We were so lucky to have this assistance and be one step ahead of most parents in this situation.