This is the point in the story that I have to start looking back at journals to make sure I get all the details right. I thought my life was crazy leading up to Brady’s arrival, but it pales in comparison to how hectic NICU life is.
While I was hospitalized pre-delivery, I had gotten a visit from a nurse practitioner who works in the NICU, and my nurse provided a book of photos of babies born at different gestations, needing various machinery to support them. Both were meant to prepare us for the support that our own tiny baby would need, and so that we wouldn’t be frightened by all the tubes and wires. To some extent, it worked, but there’s no denying that seeing your baby needing so much support is scary.
From the beginning, we knew that we had Brady in the perfect place for him to receive the best care. The nurses and doctors at Children’s are top-notch, and always had Brady’s best interests at heart. I can vividly remember one of Brady’s nurses, Diane, following one of our doctors around when she was examining Brady, covering his eyes and dimming lights, to keep him as comfortable as possible. It is obvious that caring for these babies is so much more than a job to these incredible people.
I needed to be hospitalized for a few days after my c-section, so visiting Brady for his first days of life was fairly simple. My hospital and Brady’s hospital were connected, so Jeff could easily wheel me down to his room for visits. Brady’s first days were filled with lots of “hand hugs” from mom and dad. We weren’t allowed to hold him, but we could rest our hands over his legs and around his head to comfort him. This touch is comforting to tiny babies like Brady, and he always seemed to relax when we would hand hug him.
Jeff and I also got to take part in “cares” with Brady too. Every 4 hours, the nurses would change Brady’s diaper, take his temperature, swab his mouth with milk, take his blood pressure, and switch around his monitors… among other things. Being able to help out with these made me feel like we were really doing our part in taking care of our baby. It is tough having a baby born so early, and knowing that you in no way, shape, or form, have the capability or expertise to care for him.
Another exciting point in Brady’s first week of life was when he started being able to “eat” some breast milk. Babies’ ability to suck, swallow, and breathe doesn’t develop until around 34 weeks, so Brady needed a feeding tube to get any of the good stuff. They start them out so slowly, for Brady it was a 1/2 ml every 4 hours, then every 2 hours, until they could finally go up to continuous feeds, which is the equivalent of 1/2 ml per hour. From there on out, they would gradually increase the amount he was fed continuously.
For his first few days of life, I struggled with not getting any milk while pumping. I had a lot of things working against me – being a first time mom, a very premature birth, and my high blood pressure from being sick, but I stuck with it, pumping 8 times per day to get things going. On Brady’s fourth day of life, I got my first drops of milk! It was such a proud moment, being able to swab his mouth with my milk. Up until then, he had been getting donor milk – something that I am so grateful that the NICU is able to offer. By the time Brady was 5 days old, I was making enough milk for him to be able to get my milk for feedings. I still wasn’t producing much, but it was just enough for our hungry little man!
When Brady was born, they initially hooked him up to a conventional ventilator, which breathes at a rate of 30-60 breaths per minute. Basically, breathing the way a person would traditionally breathe. These ventilators can sometimes be tough on the tiny, delicate lungs of babies like Brady, so doctors recommended that we switch him to a high-frequency ventilator on day 3 of his life. These ventilators breathe much more quickly, so quickly that little Brady’s chest would wiggle from it. His doctors and nurses were constantly monitoring “his wiggle” to make sure it looked good.
Brady did so well on his new ventilator that it was only days before they were talking about weaning some of his ventilator settings. We’d seen him have fairly high oxygen needs, and had gradually seen it drop to below 30%. 21% is room air, so seeing these numbers was really encouraging. The goal is to be able to extubate him and get him off the ventilator as soon as possible. Brady’s ventilator was saving his life, but ventilators have also been shown to cause lung issues later on, so the goal is always to minimize the amount of time that a baby needs to be on them.
At the end of Brady’s first week of life, they did a head ultrasound to check on his brain. Babies born as early as Brady are more susceptible to brain bleeds, so Jeff and I had been very nervous about this ultrasound. The results came back “unremarkable”, meaning there was no evidence of brain bleeds. We were elated!
Brady’s first week of life was pretty amazing. He did so well, especially when you consider that he should’ve been on the inside for another 13+ weeks!
On a non-medical note, we learned that Brady was Mr. Popular with the staff at Children’s. Nurses can sign up to be a baby’s “primary”, which allows them to care for the same baby when possible. Diane informed us that Brady had 4 nurses signed up as primaries, Kent and Ashley on days, and Jeannette and Tiffany at night. Diane had wanted to sign up to be his primary too, but said he already had so many, she didn’t think she’d be able to get shifts with him. Diane later looked and realized that she had several shifts different from Kent and Ashley, so she signed on as a primary too. Later in his first week of life, we learned that a newer doctor to the practice, Dr. Allred, had requested to round with Brady. She had been there late on that Sunday when Brady was born, and had cared for him in his first hours. Dr. Allred was always honest, yet optimistic, and warm, so we were happy to have her on Team Brady.
Our little man was grabbing a hold of many hearts. How could you not be inspired by our tiny little badass?
Your Little MAN was one popular baby! That is not a shock to me! So glad you are sharing your story!