Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The first day...




After spending 2 hours with our little prince, he was whisked off to the NICU for observation. This is a standard procedure for babies who weigh under a certain weight at birth. Parker was under weight by just one mere ounce. Luckily though, Ben was able to stay with Parker while Sam gathered our belongings and helped get me moved into our mother baby room. As soon as we were moved in, it was off to spend time with Parker. Shortly after I arrived the pediatrician came in to examine Parker. She noticed a slight heart murmur, which is not an uncommon thing o gear in newborns. To be on the safe side, she ordered an electrocardiograph that would be sent to Children's Hospital for evaluation. While the pediatrician was there, Ben went to get Grampa and Auntie Sarah followed by Uncle Ian and Aunt Lindsay. Unfortunately shortly after Parker was born, my mom had to leave for work, so my mom and dad would have to wait til later in the day to meet the little guy. Time passed quickly in the NICU especially once the echo started ( it took up the last hour or so of time). After Parker got the green light from the NICU that he was free, we headed off to the mother baby room where we would spend many hours in the near future. We started with a nursing session where a lactation consultant came to help with how to feed Parker, how to pump anyhow to substitute formula. Additionally they assisted with when feeding times should be (every 2-3 hours) and this included asking him to eat if he was sleeping. Ben and I started a routine right away, he would warm the formula while I nursed Parker, once that was done he would take Parker and feed him the formula while I pumped. The idea was to breastfeed first for 15 minutes max, give any pumped breast milk second and lastly add in formula. He was only eating 5-15 ml of formula at time. Due to his small birth weight and what turned out to be a mild case of jaundice, Parker would sleep often and was thought to not have the strength to detect hunger. After doing this routine a few times, visitors started to arrive. The rest of the day really flew by as family trickled in to say hello. Before we knew it, it was 7:30, the room service was closed and we had not eaten dinner. My brother and sister-in-law came by for a visit and brought Ben and I Panera Bread (a personal favorite of mine!!!). Lindsay and Parker actually share a birthday and she was kind enough to spend her birthday evening with our family. The night wrapped up shortly after dinner as Ben and I tried to take everyone’s advice and sleep when baby sleeps. 

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