NICU Graduate

The day that Leila moved to another room was shocking for me. It was a good thing because she was in the ECMO room and obviously meant she was sick. This room she shared her nurse with another baby. It was really hard for me to adjust to that room and little did I know just a few weeks later we would be moving to a whole unit. I never realize how comfortable I make myself with my surroundings until they're moved and I hate changes. I made friends with the nurses in bed 33. We called each other by our first names and we would talk in the halls of the hospital when we passed. After a while I made friends in bed 4 and sometimes I had Janet with us.

If there is anything that I can say to parents that will experience the NICU is to expect change. Expect to walk in and find your baby gearing up to move bed spaces or units. Be aware that medication dosages will change frequently depending on how your babe is doing. Expect the changes and go with it.

I walked in the second week of October and sat through rounds. We had been told that we would be moving to P3 at some point but all bed spaces were full. Like always, I just roll with everything so I never really thought about when that would actually happen. Then it did. We moved to the infant unit and learned quickly this place was extremely different from the NICU. Here, your nurse has multiple babies and they don't sit in your room. They are at an actual nurses station. I could have food in the room, I could sleep there, I could have a few more people visit at a time and we had more privacy. While in the NICU I got to be really hands on with LeiLani's cares and in the infant unit they let me do damn near everything. 

My mom, Kyle and myself learned about Leila's NG tube. We learned how to put one in, check placement, give medications and feeds through it. I found it very exciting to learn about the tube and how to care for it. In the infant unit the nurses have techs that are like an assistant. They'll ask if you need any help and if you say no, they leave you alone. Meaning you can literally do everything your child needs yourself. LeiLani wasn't hooked to anything other than her oximeter and oxygen so I could move her around as much as I wanted. Being in this unit was a constant reminder that home was just around the corner.

We went off of her morphine completely after some trial and error and it was time to set things up to go home. We took CPR and let me tell you what, practicing on a blow up baby that looks like an alien was not what I was expecting. It freaked my mom out especially because it came in a box and it brought her instantly back to Zayley. We did a car seat trial where she was strapped into her car seat for almost two hours to make sure she did not desat at anytime. After passing with flying colors it was time to do a hearing test. They did this test while I was gone so I didn't get to see how they do it but she passed. 🙌 We set up her appointment with her pediatrician and had a discharge date and time.

Monday morning Kyle and I sat in her room and gathered all of our things to go. Our nurse that day was so nice and helpful making sure that our shit was in order. We started to leave and as we walked down through the lobby it felt like another out of body experience. Like the one I had when I was leaving the NICU during Leila's surgery. We got her into the car and as we pulled out to leave I felt suddenly like I was stealing her. Then I started to feel immensely happy like when you're about to go on your favorite rollercoaster. My leave pay had dried up a little before it was time to come home and my tank was nearly empty. Kyle and I cashed in all of our change (literal change) so that we could get gas. In that moment I definitely felt like a first time parent and I haven't been THAT broke in a very long time!

Next stop was home.