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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