Day Eleven

Today is likely our day of discharge.

Approximately 218 hour thus far, with a few more hours to go. We look forward to sleeping without people randomly popping in day and night. I know, parents will say, “well wait until…” Sure, okay. Have people come to your bedroom five times a night, talking vitals, giving pills while you’re on an IV, while on a liquid diet, with multiple babies crying around you that you can’t help. Do that for two days without a shower. I think we’ve got it, or at least most of it.

Most of Day Ten, yesterday, involved Lara and I negotiating with the hospital for sleep. The afternoon was a point of success. The line nurse placed a do not disturb sign on the outside of our room door. That got Lara 2 two-hour blocks of sleep. Sleep was a relative thing as she was getting two units of blood during that time and still had both arms needled up. While yesterday morning was punctuated with difficultly walking and urinating, by late afternoon and evening Lara was feeling much more like her normal self. We ate hamburgers from Busboys and Poets, her first real meal since Saturday.

We also saw one of the OBs on our team, Dr. Gold. She has been with us most of our stay, checking in with us when she could – sometimes multiple times a day. As Lara was an ER nurse, she understands what happens in hospitals and how things work. The doctor and Lara spent time talking about school, being New Yorkers, and just talking. In likely our last visit as doctor / patient, we laughed and joked like old friends.

Today, we did what’s now our morning ritual. Nurses, doctors, and lactation consultants filed in for morning rounds. We have a new nurse, Felicia, who immediately demonstrated an extensive level of experience. That’s because she’s been a nurse for 30 years but her eyes and overall demeanor was that of a younger person. She noticed that Lara had some issues with breast feeding and helped us fix it.

I visited Baby Jax early before the hospital Panera coffee and food run and accepted delivery of donuts to the postpartum ward. He was in a neonatal enclosure receiving light treatment to control jaundice. While it looks scary, he’s fine. Overnight, baby Jax had his first bath, which he didn’t like and immediately had his first poo on the NICU nurse. Later this morning, Lara visited Jax. Coronavirus restrictions mean that only one of us can visit at a time.

Using a wheelchair, Lara was able to spend a solid amount of time with him. Jax is currently sleeping – like a baby. According to Lara, Jax is off the lights for now. And no more antibiotics are needed. He’s breathing fine without extra oxygen since last night. If gains weight and eating ok, he will likely come home between 35 and 36 weeks, which would be anywhere from Friday to the following Friday.

Good news on a good day. Thank you all for support.