I got settled into my room on the mother/baby unit around 3:30 in the morning on the 25th. The nurse got me set up with a breast pump, since Parker wasn't allowed to eat yet. I didn't sleep... Bryan tried, but there were interruptions nearly continuously until 7am, when we were told I needed to move to a room on the other side of the unit. I had to wear a heart monitor, and the signal wasn't being received from the room I was in.
We got into the new room, and Bryan got a little bit of sleep. I had some breakfast, and we went to see Parker around 11 in the morning. He still had his CPAP on, but they were weaning the settings, and were hopeful to have him on nasal cannula by early afternoon. We weren't able to hold him yet, but touched him and talked to him in his isolette.
We had a little bit of lunch, and when we went back to see Parker at 2pm, we were delighted to see that he was not on nasal cannula... he was on room air!! The nurse said she had placed him on nasal cannula, which he promptly removed. She decided to see how he would do without it, and he maintained his sats beautifully! She asked us if we'd like to hold him... she didn't have to ask, we'd been dying to!
He doesn't look to thrilled to be face to face with his mommy, but I was sure happy to see him! I can't describe the feeling of finally getting to hold him, after waiting over 14 hours. It was completion, in the truest sense.
He was very happy to see his Daddy... he'd been waiting to see who read him Dr. Seuss for all of those months!
I had been reluctant to introduce a pacifier, but the NICU nurses suggested we let him have one to deal with the stress of being on the CPAP and having the IV.
15 and a half hours after delivery, Parker finally got to eat for the first time. All of my fears of him being unable to nurse were laid to rest, as he was a pro!
It was so nice to be able to bond with our son. Bryan decided to go home that night to get a good night's sleep in hopes that Parker could join us on the mother/baby unit the next night. I slept very little... I was so excited to be able to go feed Parker every three hours, I couldn't get to sleep! I'm convinced that the frequent trips walking the halls to visit him made my recovery from the c-section much quicker than if I had been laying in bed. Nothing was going to keep me from our baby! That first night, sitting in the rocker in the NICU feeding him, were some of my first sweet memories with Parker... reunited at last.
