Noah's first Bath!!

Friday, Day 6

Today I woke mainly thinking about managing my soreness and stiffness. I wondered how bad it would get before it got better. My mission was to stay on top of my pain med's like make sure to take them exactly on time. Yesterday, I had skipped one does accidentally and allowed a little more time in between doses. Not by choice, just forgot. I think i need to get the app for that. ha
So, the morning was here. Matt, Olivia and I have our family breakfast in bed. Olivia has grown so much these last 3 months. I love this morning mama time with her and I can tell she loves it too. I do my usual pumping and also must attend to some bill paying. Stress! Anything extra that takes any minutes is like adding a big hill to this marathon. Ok, now, again if you know about running races, races and hills are hard. But I did it and whew, all I have to say is I am all about 80/20 right now. And ,"only touch a piece of paper once". No time to waste. Done.

I was so excited about the volume I had reached during the wee hours of the night. However, on the 3 pumping sessions before we left to the hospital. my output had dropped to 4ml max. From 44 to 4. I was bummed, but reassured myself, that those recent pumps were when I was not as relaxed and I was not able to put as much time and effort into them. I was also told in the middle of the night, you just get more. So I didn't worry too much, but am very eager to get my milk in! For now I am still keeping up with Noah's needs so that is great. I have about 2 weeks more of this intense dedication to pumping before I can relax a little with my stock pile. At least that is the goal. Enough about milk.
We get to the hospital and I head into the NICU, feeling tired and slow. I didn't sleep well at my most recent nap, since other things were on my brain from the household admin work. Oh, well a nap awaits later. I go in to see Noah and he has the best spot in the house. Sun is shining through the window near him and warming his little Ark up even more. The Dr says they are all jealous of him since it is as if he is on a little sun bathing vacation. Those poor people don't see much light of day either. We have our visit. I am too tired to change his diaper and get ready while the nurse does that. Hey, why rush it?! He is sleepy and snuggly and not too interested in a workout, so I let him just snooze as I close my eyes, put my head back and rest. Ahh, this is nice. No visitors with me, this is perfect time to just rest and breathe.
After pumping, I get to talk to a lactation consultant for a few minutes before heading out to lunch. I whip out my app and show her my stats. She makes some recommendations and I will follow through. No concerns, just some tips and reassurance that it is going very well and soon I will have my stock pile.
Lunch is mellow, and I manage to take care of another finance task that seems monumental. Another hill. Whew, on the down side now. Awesome. I feel like I am starting to gain a little strength. A bit of a pace. Perhaps I have some "memories" in these muscles of mine and they are being dug up from the grave. Well, good. I need ya now for sure. I am not feeling as much soreness, am consistent on my med's so far today and feeling pretty good physically overall. Just more tired. Like a friend reminded me yesterday, "Well, your sleep deprivation should be really piling up on you now!". Um, yes, thank you it has. lol! Nothing like hearing the facts. hee! Love her. Dearly.
I head down to the NICU to Noah, glad to have had the morning by myself to allow a little more quiet time to my day. A few less words. It feels like I got to stop at the water station during the race and actually drink the mini paper cup of water, instead of running and trying to splash it into my mouth, ditching he cup to the ground. This time I even took it to the trash, and kept on a running. Feeling pretty swell. And a friend was on her way with a decaf soy latte from LuLu's and I had an oatmeal raisin in my bag that was a sure treat for me at some point later. Yummy!! I had a nice and brief visit with a friend I don't see a lot of, but when I do , we just pick up where we left off and enjoy the moment. Love that. I get to hang with Noah a bit more. He is more active now and does a little practicing and I coach him through, taking breaks to close my eyes again after not too long as I see he is falling to sleep again. He is doing great and I get to confirm that we are still scheduled for a bath tonight before the 8:30 feeding. Soo excited!!
Ok, how cute is this??!!

I pack up and meet Matt and Olivia outside and head home. Pump, rest, eat, pump, pack up and head out.

We get to the NICU and head inside with our friend who agreed to take some photos and video. So excited to see her, we all head in to the NICU. Noah now has his feeding tube out, so we get to see his little precious face in all it's glory. Beautiful little guy. Matt takes Noah's temp and the bath is being prepared. I take off his diaper and he gets set into a little basin of warm water that is underneath a heated lamp. Very tropical. The nurse assisting us walks us through the whole process as I assist in doing the washing of all his little parts, slowly and delicately. I felt like I was a little bit, back on the job, when I was giving him a little facial. The smallest face I have ever worked on for sure. hee We wash his hair last and rinse. It looks like it curled up a little once it got wet. Dark wavy hair. Cute! We get him out, dry him off. Get to see him all naked baby style. Then we dress him in a onesie! I didn't think that would be easy, and it wasn't but I am glad to have had a little experience of putting a baby into clothes. But I managed to get his little arms and fingers through the sleeves pretty easily. Whew. Good thing I had chosen something easy to put on! Whew. Matt holds and snuggles him after his bath while I get ready to have him on me to eat. Precious daddy time. Noah, practices sucking well for a few tries, then gets hiccups. It makes me laugh because a hiccup for him is like an inner earthquake. The quakes last a while and I let him rest while he looks up at us, alert and content. I think about how I would have felt these hiccups in my belly if her were in it. I am glad I get to hold him instead. As hard as this is and has been I wouldn't trade having him in my arms now, for nothing. What a gift. Matt and I enjoy our time with him alone. It is so calming and peaceful for us both. Noah is done eating, No spills this time, since the same nurse hands the milk to Matt to hold for extra security. Noah is totally tuckered from his bath. The most movement he has had his while life!
All clean,shiny and looking dapper as ever in his dud's we wrap up and get him back in bed and head home.
Oh, to the bank, then home. Another task accomplished. Look at that. This is feeling like a really good pace. I know I won't be able to keep up with 3 extra "projects" a day, but I was impressed at what had been done today and that I felt pretty good.
Back home, a short briefing with mom and off to pump and get to bed. A good day. Feeling a slight stride come on, the burning is passing and just feels warm now.

Noah update: He will be getting another possible light therapy treatment this week if he needs it for his jaundice. I think of if as just a big dose of tropical sunshine.
Noah took a full feeding from a real bottle the night before last! The nurses were impressed that he took the whole thing! That means he is swallowing well. Very well. They will add in bottles here and there now for feedings. Next step is sucking. That takes so much strength and energy, so that will take a few weeks to get to. But he is well on his way.
Noah weighs 3.9 today. Holding steady. I feel a weight gain coming on soon. I'll guess by Sunday.
Epo treatment will be started next week. Precautionary only. This will give a boost to his blood.

Dairy Queen update: I got home and got my supply back up from 4 ml today to a whopping 35. We will be talking ounces soon people!!