Jackson's First Few Days in the NICU

Jackson was not quite ready to join the world when he was born! Being a Pittsburgh baby, we figured he just had to be here in time to watch the Steelers win the Super Bowl that weekend! Shortly after his birth, he was taked down to the NICU for futher observation due to breathing trouble. While holding him after his birth, he began making a sighing sound. We thought it was so cute, but the doctors were alarmed by it and decided he should be checked out. We were told he would probably only need to be there for 24-48 hours, which seemed like forever to me! I wanted him in my room, bonding with me and Nolan, taking pictures, Showing him off to the family via Skype...but, of course, I wanted a healthy baby first and foremost.

Several long hours later, we were finally allowed to visit our baby in the NICU. He was so beautiful, despite all the tubes and wires everywhere. We were not able to hold him that night, but we were able to touch him through the holes in the isolette. He had an IV in his tiny hand, a tube down his throat, a breathing tube, and heart/breathing monitors. It was hard to see our little guy in that condition, but knew it was for the best. The video below is of Jackson, just a few hours old.

The next morning, we were informed that Jackson needed 7 days of treatment for his breathing, so we wouldn't be taking him home with us. I never imagined I would be leaving the hospital without my baby! We got to hold him that day for short periods of time. Once he was able to eat from a bottle, we learned to feed him, which was quite a challenge since he did not yet have his rooting, sucking reflex and had a tube going down his throat. It took a long time for him to drink his bottle. We also learned to change his diapers through the holes in the Isolette...very tricky! We also discovered, after a good hair-washing, that our red-headed baby was actually blonde!

Most mothers are anxious to leave the hospital, I, on the other hand, was dreading it! I was so hormonal and emotional anyway, I really had no idea how I would react when that time came. I was discharged early in the afternoon and we spent the rest of the day with Jackson. Our childbirth class, which we were only half-way through, met that night just downstairs from the NICU. We decided to show up and see if anyone noticed that I wasn't pregnant anymore. It happened to be the night of the hospital tour (could have used that!) so we sat in the classroom and waited for everyone to return from the tour. I joked about having the tour early, and taking the crash-course in childbirth and everyone figured it out. We shared our story and passed around pictures of Jackson. It was fun to see everyone in our class and say goodbye. We stayed with Jackson until after midnight. It took forever to work up enough strength to leave him there, but finally I tearfully kissed him goodnight, and Nolan listened to me cry the whole way home. This would become routine!