NICU

Cole spent 5 days in the NICU.  While we were coming and going we met lots of parents and grandparents with babies in the NICU as well.  Many of them had been in there for months.  We hated that our sweet boy needed to be there, but the other stories we heard definitely helped us gain some perspective on our situation!  

Although we knew it was for the best, it was hard to see our little guy in the giant bed and hooked up to  so many different monitors.  There were moments when we walked in to the NICU and it was eerily quiet, but most of the time it was filled with monitors beeping, nurses talking and babies crying.  Cole seemed to be pretty calm most of the time though.  

 When they first admitted him they had to put an IV in to give him antibiotics.  They tried to get it into his hand but weren't successful, so they put it into his head.  They kept telling us that it didn't hurt, but it was so hard for us to see.  He had monitors measuring his heart rate, respiration rate and oxygen saturation.  Many times while we were in there, I found myself watching his respiration rate hoping and praying it would stay within the normal range.  

After I was discharged from the hospital, we had to find a routine that would allow us to give Levi some normal routines but still give us time to see Cole.  We were so thankful to have Mat's mom here to help us watch Levi and give us some flexibility to go to the hospital as well.  We spent most of the day at the hospital while Levi was either with Gran or at Misty's house.  We made it home in time to spend the evening here at the house.  We had time to play, eat dinner and put Levi down for bed before we headed back up to the hospital for Cole's 9:00 feeding.  We both could've sat and watched our little guy for hours, so each night Mat would set a "leaving" time for us.  Leaving the hospital without our baby (after I had been discharged) was one of the most difficult things I've ever done, and it didn't get any easier.  

I hated the feeling of being torn between my two sweet boys, but thankfully we didn't have to maintain this routine for too long.  Tuesday night we were able to "room-in" at the hospital.  We were able to stay in a family room with Cole and no monitors!  We still had a nurse assigned to us in case we needed anything, but we were able to do things on our own.  It was an exciting and stressful night.  I was so worried that something would happen that would mean more time in the NICU.  We had lots of people praying for a smooth night, and our prayers were answered.  

Wednesday morning our nurse came in and told us the biggest challenge of the day would be getting all of our paperwork done for discharge!  To say that we were impatient would be putting it lightly.  :)  Cole got the green light from the doctor, and then we had to wait...and wait...and wait!  Finally, everyone got all of their ducks in a row, and we were able to bring our little guy home!  

We are so thankful to have family and friends that prayed for a healthy baby boy and for peace for us.  We are glad to finally have our whole family under one roof.