One Week

It alternates between being amazing to me that it's already been a week and that it's only been a week since Landon was born. It doesn't seem like very long ago that I was still pregnant and counting down the days until his due date, but JP and I are such NICU regulars now that it feels like we've been spending our days there forever. We have an assigned locker, we know everyone at the front desk, we have our favorite nurses, we know the shift change schedule, and we know the names (and cries) of all the babies in his nursery. Landon and one other baby boy are the only ones who remain from our first night- the other 4 beds have been changed up. I try not to get too jealous when I see another couple bring in their car seat to take their baby home.

Yesterday, like the few before it, was a day of progress and set-backs. His bilirubin levels went back up, so he's back on the blue bililights. However because he's getting so active and eating so well, they gave him the glow worm bililight that just goes on his back under his t-shirt. So this time we can still pick him up and hold him as much as we want (under the big bililights he could only be out of his crib 1 hour a day). He had a few de-sats over Friday night and into Saturday morning and a big de-sat yesterday afternoon- he went down to about 70% and turned very blue/grey. It took some stiff reminders to get him to breathe, although he was able to return to 86% without the oxygen mask. So I think we're now pushed back to at least Thursday for when he can come home- we're now just thinking anytime before the end of next weekend is pretty good.

On the plus side, his doctor said she felt that he sounded better without his nasal cannula in- that the amount of oxygen he's getting is so low that it may be getting in the way of his breathing more than it's helping him. So at 2pm the cannula were taken out and we got to see his handsome face free of tubes for the first time! I just talked to the nurse this morning and she said he had a few small de-sats last night, but each time he came up on his own and didn't require any hands-on intervention like he did yesterday afternoon. He's eating like a champ and has brief periods where he's so awake and active- we have so much fun just sitting and staring at him all day.

JP is going back to work tomorrow. He'll be working reduced hours and hopefully leaving by 4pm (he's an investment banker- that's very reduced), but I think that's going to make things quite a bit harder. So far we've been doing fine with it just being the two of us- we sit in awe of his cuteness, keep each other company while he's sleeping, and take breaks to walk around outside together when we need it. He's so in love with his little boy- he keeps me from getting down about the fact that we're still in the NICU because he's so excited to see Landon whenever we're there, the circumstances of how we're seeing him just don't matter very much to him. My mom arrives on Wednesday. We thought we were timing her arrival to be after Landon comes home and right around when JP goes back to work. Now it looks like she'll be hanging out in the NICU with me and I'm so glad she'll be there.

At least I have my Harry Potter book to keep me company while Landon is sleeping. Amazon is supposed to delivery my pre-ordered copy, but we're never home and don't have a doorman so I knew it would be a while before I actually got my hands on it. I bought another copy at the hospital book store and I'm reading it slowly to savor the last of Harry Potter's magical world. I've talked to Landon about the basic plot line and I'm sure he's looking forward to hearing more details when he's older and we can read all the books together.