Saturday Morning – Schedules for Everything!

It’s Saturday morning here in the NICU.  Time really seems different here, everything revolves around a schedule.  For example Mason’s ‘cares’ are every 3 hours around the clock, at 3, 6, 9, and 12.  During a care he will get fed, diapered, have his diapers weighed, head measured, vitals recorded, and so on.  At one care he also gets weighed (last night he weighed 7lb 13 oz, up from 7lb 4oz at birth).  At two of the cares (3 and 9) also include being catheterized and any urine from that is measured as well. 

Each nurse in the NICU has specific babies to care for.  Depending on how sick a baby is the nurse may have one, two, or three little ones.  Mason’s nurse has just two little ones. 

Jason and I are still working on getting our own routine going.  We spend almost all day here with Mason, taking time to go eat.  In the evening we are blessed to be able to walk across the street to the Ronald McDonald house.  There is food, laundry facilities, and we have our own hotel room and bathroom there. 

I’m also trying to keep track of my own routines for medicines and pumping.  At the moment I’m on several medications from painkiller and thyroid medicine to iron supplements because I’m now anemic.  Some pills are once a day, or twice, or every 4 hours.  Pumping is a whole new experience for me.  Every 2-3 hours I no matter where I am I have to find a place to sit down for about 30 minutes with a breast pump and go through the pumping routine.  And that is around the clock so I’m still enjoying the newborn schedule even though my newborn has nurses to help him.  :) 

So other than being a bit sleep deprived we’re good here.  Mason seems to be especially relaxed when he is held and sleeps really well then.  Sleeping = Healing.