The first few days

The first few days were an exhilarating blur! Nate had indeed caught us on the hop with his early arrival. I was sent back to the ward to recover from the c-section, while Nate was housed in NICU in his man cave (incubator).

Robin spent that first weekend going back and forth between us, and sitting with Nate and watching all of his monitors. Like all newborn premature babies, Nate's pulse and oxygen saturation were being monitored constantly, with alarms occasionally sounding that sent fear into the hearts of new parents! However he was on Level II NICU support, which meant he shared a nurse with only one other baby, so was well cared for and tended to.

While I saw Nate briefly after the birth, I didn't get to visit him until the next day when a wheelchair was found to take me down there with Robin. I remember thinking how very very small he was. We were allowed to put our hands through the window to touch him, but we were unable to hold him at that stage. He was delicate, of fine features, and of course gorgeous to us!

But while Nate looked to be covered in wires and tubes and closed away in his incubator, in reality he was doing remarkably well. His biggest issue seemed to be his small size, given that while he was born at 33w6d, he had stopped growing at 30weeks (known as IUGR). For the first couple of weeks he experienced low platelets, for which he went through almost daily heel pricks for bloods so the doctors could watch for positive increases that eventually came through. Nate was tube fed his breast milk through his nose, as his suck reflex was yet to develop at his premature age.

Nate in his man cave

On the third day, I visited Nate with Granny (my mum), and I was finally allowed to hold our wee man :-). I was terrified of picking him up with all his wires and with him being so tiny. But with the nurses support, he was placed on me. I was absolutely smitten. He snuggled into me and went back to sleep.

First cuddle with Mummy!

The NICU team couldn't account for why Nate had stopped growing at 30weeks. Tests were undertaken immediately after birth to see if there was a problem - my placenta was checked, both Nate and I were tested for various infections, and Nate underwent repeated blood tests and culture tests. But nothing ever showed up. In fact even weeks later, all they could tell us was that sometimes these things happen.

Robin was in daily to visit, while also managing to work. Robin also bought Nate's big sisters Mia and Ruby in for visits too. Nate had lots of tummy time with Daddy, and began his introduction to the world of music courtesy of classical baby melodies in his iPhone.

Daddy and Nate

Jen was in hospital for a week and half with Nate, the first week as a patient herself recovering from the c-section, and the rest of the time as Nate's Mummy staying in a parent room. We were spoilt with gifts and flowers, texts and emails to celebrate our wee man!

Proud parents!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Enter stage right....

On Thursday the 7th of March, following a harrowing and stressful three weeks with my father extremely ill in hospital, Robin and I went for a 33week scan of our wee son. We had only recently found out that we were expecting a boy, and we were both very excited at the prospect :-)

An early photo in our pregnancy

Both my kids!

At our scan we were told that a further follow up was needed, as from what we could gather, it appeared that the baby was not quite the size that they would have expected him to be based on his prior scans. We were referred back to our specialist that afternoon, who then referred me on to the maternity day clinic at Auckland Hospital for further tests the following day. She noted casually that I might be admitted for the weekend for observation.

Friday arrived and I spent all day hooked up to various machines in the day unit. Late afternoon they advised that yes they would indeed be keeping me in for the weekend and I was then moved to a ward. Some friends popped by to see me, and Robin came in after work to sit with me. I prepared mentally for a weekend of hospital food, some gossip magazines, and bed rest.....

Saturday morning arrived with the same machines. I was pretty non-plussed and sat and read the paper and started my cereal. I remember feeling sorry for the lady next to me who was 36weeks, highly emotional, and a diabetic, and who was arguing with the doctor about whether she should be allowed to go home for the day. I remember thinking 'goodness lady you really need to be here, it's me that should be able to go home!' But literally less than a few minutes later, the same doctor sat down beside me and told me that they had decided that they needed to get the baby out sooner over later (in fact in an hour or so!), and the breakfast tray was quickly taken away. I started to text Robin at home with the news...and then thought that maybe I should call on this one...heaven forbid he sleeps in and misses it :-)

Robin arrived at the hospital shortly after, and we were wheeled to theatre for an emergency c-section around midday. It was all a bit surreal really, everything was happening so fast, and in hindsight I can see that I wasn't fully with it. But ready or not, at 12.56pm on Saturday the 9th of March, Nate David Ryan-Chang arrived into the world.

Nate cried almost immediately, and I remember feeling relieved. Robin did the honours cutting the cord and snapping plenty of pics. Nate's apgar score was a solid 9 - he was just very small, weighing in at a feather-like 1.580kgs :-)

Don't worry, I'll grow into these feet...

My first close-up :-)

Before he and Robin headed off to NICU and the warmth of an incubator, I got the chance to call out his name and say a brief hello - I was SO pleased when he extended his little arm out to touch me! As Roy (Robin's Dad) said, he "nose" me.....:-)

Mummy meets Son

You'd cry too if you had to wear this beenie

Our wee man was then whisked away to NICU and connected up to a variety of tubes and wires - monitoring his pulse, his oxygen saturation, a nose tube inserted for feeding, and various lines for drips and bloods. Inspite of his small size, he only briefly required oxygen and settled in nicely into Level II at Auckland Hospitals NICU unit. Mummy and Daddy were both relieved and hugely excited by the arrival of our wee man!

Tubes, wires, monitors, and a nappy that could double as a toga

 

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