The NICU is an incredible place. The doctors and nurses who work here are both compassionate and knowledgeable. They have 64 rooms and a huge team of people. At one point during the early moments of Barnabys life I counted 12 people working hurriedly in his room and they still took time to part the sea of machines and bring me to his bedside to see him.
Today, after what feels like an eternity but is actually only two days, that same room is calm and relaxing. He lays in a little glass dome that is carefully temperature controlled and they try to give him as much downtime as possible to mimic Where a baby usually is at 29 weeks. The machines have mostly been silenced and there is a nurse in his room 24 hours a day, when she takes a break the nurse in the next room over sits between the doorways and watches both babies.
We have not been able to hold him yet but we reach in through little hatches to touch him. Ana has felt hearts that she wears against her skin to absorb her scent and then they get placed in the bed next to him. She is also pumping breast milk that we keep in a freezer in his room. Right now he gets it smeared on his lips as lip gloss and at some point he will start eating once he is breathing. We are headed there now to do “care time” with the nurse when she changes his tiny diaper and makes sure he is comfortable.
Barnaby 