One Flew Over the NICU's Nest

Well, it's been quite an emotional start to the week.  At one week old today, our boy is growing, slowly but steadily, and as the food quantity increases, his energy decreases.  He started out at 10cc's of milk per feeding, and is now eating over 30cc's.  The doctors expect preemies to do this, they compare the sucking of the bottle to running a marathon. So they decreased his bottle feedings to help conserve his energy...the rest is given through the Gavage tube. Developmentally, he's doing fantastic, and all we wait on now is for him to continue feeding and growing.  He did bottle feed this morning and managed to finish it all which is the most uplifting activity of the day. MY how our perspective changes when we bring a little one into the world! Another special moment today, he peed on my chest. Being peed on has never felt so wonderful because all I can think about is his amazingly functional bladder. I can't wait to see what he'll do at 3. 

Yesterday, however, was a stressful day.  I noticed the energy decrease and went straight into panic mode.  Because he's not a "critical" case (which is a wonderful thing), he gets rotating nurses.  Well, we had the delight of meeting Nurse Ratched so I had to contend with her most of the day.  My typical routine is to go see him at 9, 3, 6, and 9. These are his designated "touch" times. I get to go in, change his diaper and take his temperature. Then it's feeding/cuddle time for an hour of which I cherish every second. Well, Nurse Ratched had a student nurse, and they were using my child as practice since he's not a sickly baby. I go to change my boy's diaper, and she makes the following statement. (Say in a Ratchedy condescending way) "Ummmm, since you'll be changing diapers for the REST of his life, we're going to go ahead and get this one." Now, imagine you haven't read all the beautiful and emotional things that I've written about the blessings of this experience and recall the Pre-Child Amanda you once knew. I morphed into a fire breathing, spell casting Hell Monster, and if lasers had been implanted in my retinas, I could've blown Plano Presbyterian right off the map. Never mind my own personal weapon of mass destruction being my mouth. The eyes did the trick just fine. Throughout the day, her irritating and offensive behaviors have placed her on my you-know-what list for a lifetime. So from 7 am to 7 pm I had to field comments like, "don't you have to go now?" and "let me just watch you feed him so I make sure you're doing it the right way." My plan is to get a picture of her and put it up at the post office. Perhaps I'll even contact John Walsh. He seems to be successful in seeking and destroying the villains of the earth. Either way, she's gone for now, and our two favorite nurses are with him today which makes me one of the happiest women alive. Tony's reaction to the situation is a different blog entirely. :)

So continue to pray for Harrison. Each moment is increasingly precious with him and stubbornly enough, Tony and I want him to take his time growing, but to do it quickly. :)