A day in the NICU

KThis is our first, maybe not last, day in the life post. Eleanor is 11 days old and in the NICU. Steve is 34 and I'm 27. It's Tuesday which is exciting coz I know what day it is lol. 

Midnight: we are still up cos I have to pump at midnight. We got home at 11, started Ellie's laundry and took a quick shower. I wash pump stuff and get started while Steve grabs snacks because breastfeeding has made me ravenously hungry. While I pump I prep all my night time containers for pumping so I can be quick and we watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother. 

12:20am, finish pumping and wash pumping stuff. Set it all back up. Move Ellie's laundry to the dryer. Bedtime. 

3:00am, alarm goes off. I have to push myself to get out of bed cos I am tired. I hook up the pump and play games on my phone and don't go internet shopping again. 

3:20am, done pumping. Put milk in the fridge and think about washing pumping supplies but decide I want that precious 5 minutes of sleep. 

7:00am, alarm goes off again. I turn it off and debate sleeping. I hook up the pump and let Steve sleep til I'm done. 

7:25am, I get up and get water boiling to sanitize all my pump stuff. I start breakfasts, which is leftover waffles from my dad and get dressed. 

7:30am, While Steve gets up I fold Ellie's laundry and eat breakfast. Steve eats after I do. I check my blood pressure and its come down a lot! Yay! 

8:20am, we head to the hospital.

8:50am, we are in Ellie's room! She's up 20 grams overnight and is back at her birth weight!  

9:00am, our nurse comes in and tells us that Ellie took all her bottles last night and hasn't needed her tube at all! Yay! 

9:10am, I head over to L&D to ask them about my blood pressure medication and they take me to a doctor and she goes over weaning off it. 

9:30am, Ellie is up so the nurse does an assessment and we change her. I settle her down to nurse but girly is not interested. We give her 20 mins before getting her the bottle. 

9:45am, rounds! Doctors are very happy with her progress and if she can keep up not needing her tube she may be able to go home in 48 hours! Home!

10:20am, she taps out on the bottle. She almost finished it. The nurse decides not to use her tube and if she wakes up early for next feed so be it. 

10:40am, I pass her off to Steve so I can pump. 

11:00am, Steve decides to take a nap with her so I pull out my knitting and start this. 

11:15am, Steve can't sleep so we talk about the birds flying around. Such excitement in here. 

11:30am, I take the baby. She sleeps til lunch time. 

12:30pm, we feed her by bottle since it hasn't been too long since I pumped. She takes the whole thing! 

1:15pm, I pump again but not for as long so hopefully we can BF at her next feed. 

1:30pm, we put her down and she fusses so I turn off the lights and close the window. We sneak out for lunch and go to Fatburger across the street. We check Shoppers for the bottles that are similar to the hospital ones but no dice. 

2:30pm, we get back to the hospital. I fill up my water and sit down to do this. Ellie fusses the second I'm in the room but I kinda give her a minute to see if it's something she will settle from. 

2:50pm, I pick up the baby and we get our snuggle on. She fusses for about a minute before she passes back out on my chest and I start making a list of things for Steve to get from Babies R Us today like bottles and preemie diapers. 

3:15pm, Ellie wakes up. We test our thermometer against the hospital's to make sure they are the same. Kid is not impressed. They cut their heels for bloodwork and stick a tube down her nose for food and both those are whatever but take her temperature and kid loses her mind. 

3:30pm, we breastfeed. She latches but doesn't do a whole heck of a lot. This is getting to be the norm. Which is better than not latching. She just started taking bottles so it might take her a bit to get used to the breast too. She kinda falls asleep. 

3:45pm, we wake her up and give her the bottle, she takes the whole thing again. Nurse notices her nose tube is coming out but since it's been almost 24 hours since she needed it we are leaving it. I'm betting she will have it out in no time. 

4;00pm, Steve heads to Toys R Us to get bottles and preemie diapers. We will have to send my stepmom to get the preemie nipples as our location is sold out. 

4:25pm, I swaddle Ellie and put her down so I can pump. It takes her approximately 3 seconds to get loose and wiggle her arm out but as soon as she does she settles so I leave it. 

4:32pm, she's fussing again so I re-swaddle her. She's gassy so I try laying her on her stomach but she gets kinda mad so instead I roll her back over. She settles. 

4:40pm, I finish pumping and get the milk ready for the nurse. I shut the blinds so that the sun won't wake up the baby. I want to pick her up but I don't want to wake her up so I sit down and knit.

4:45pm, she stirs. I swear it's the smell of breast milk. I give her a minute and she goes back to sleep. I ask the nurse a thousand questions about feeding her and taking care of her. We talk about how breastfeeding is going to get easier and maybe even be better once the tube is out. I notice Ellie has her hands free again and hope she pulls it out in her sleep. I'm a bad mom. 

4:55pm, she fusses and coughs so I pick her up and strap her to my chest with a receiving blanket. As soon as I do she goes back to sleep. I wonder if she was a little refluxy and this angle is better? Either way, while she sleeps I eat Halloween candy. 

5:10pm, Steve comes back and we joke around and laugh about silly stuff. Probably because we are so tired! 

6:15pm, Ellie is awake! We get her up and changed. 

6:30pm, Steve feeds Ellie! 

7:00pm, my dad brings us dinner! It's hamburgers with veggies and apples. We hang out with him for a bit so he can cuddle Ellie. She falls asleep on him after about 15 minutes. 

7:30pm, my dad leaves and we go eat! 

8:00pm, I realize I should have pumped before we left but I forgot. It's too long to wait til Ellie eat last again so I decide to do a quick 10 mins to relieve some of the swelling but not empty them completely so we can attempt a breastfeed at 930.

8:10pm, I stop pumping. I want to pick Ellie up but she's sleeping so well I decide to leave her and let her rest. 

9:10pm, Ellie wakes up and girly is hangry! We change her and pop her on the boob while the nurse goes to get milk from the fridge. It takes a while but she actually nurses for all of three seconds in between freaking out for food.

9:30pm, I bottle feed her, she takes all but 5mls in about 10 minutes. We all agree to toss the rest, not worth the tube at all. 

9:40pm, Ellie and I cuddle til she falls asleep. 

10:07pm, she starts to fall asleep so I swaddle her on my chest and we cuddle a little longer. 

10:30pm, Steve and I pack up to leave the hospital and head home. 

10:50pm, we are home! I put away the laundry from this morning. Since Ellie made such a turn and we may be coming home I decided not to leave it there. 

11:05pm, I sit down to take my blood pressure. Still high but better. Steve makes me peanut butter toast for a snack. 

11:15pm, I wash my pumping stuff and unpack some of the new bottles so I can sterilize them to try tomorrow. My stepmom will have the preemie nipples sterilized and ready for when Steve picks up the car seat. 

11:30pm, I set up the pump and get to work while we watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother. While I pump I add pictures to this post. Steve bought me storage bags for breast milk today so I decide everything I pump tonight can just go in the freezer. The hospital is well stocked and I pump 5-6 times a day there anyway. 

11:55pm, I wash my pumping stuff and get set up for 3am

Midnight, bedtime!