D-Day = Delivery Day in case you were wondering.
I was woken up this morning at 5:00 by the nurse to draw blood. There are probably better ways to be woken, and definitely better times. I went upstairs to the NICU to see Gaby this morning. The NICU pediatrician hadn’t made rounds yet, but he did come over to talk to me a little. He said that when he makes rounds he goes from sickest to healthiest, so Gaby would be one of the last babies he sees. So that’s good. He gave me an idea of when to expect her to be able to go home. He said that on average, babies go home about 25 days before their due date. She was due June 22, so she should probably go home the end of May. Of course this is all contingent on how she does. The biggest issue is her ability to eat and digest her food. Her lungs are fabulous.
Here are a couple of pictures I took of her this morning in the NICU:
Dr. Horlander came to see me this morning. We talked about a few things, and all I can say is I love my doctors. They have all been so great during all of this. She did confirm that I will be discharged tomorrow, so I can go home. Gaby’s discharge day is still questionable, but I hope it is soon.
Late last night I went up to the NICU to see Gaby one more time before I went to bed. The nurse gave me a toy to sleep with. It is called a Snoedel (pronounced snoodle). I am supposed to sleep with it against my bare skin for two nights so that it can absorb my scent, then I am supposed to give it to Gaby. It is supposed to help her bond with me, and give her the sense that I am with her. Hopefully I won’t get too attached to it myself, and I’ll be able to bring myself to give it to her.
If you see a Dr. Brooke Barnes (she may go by Dr. Dearing now) tell her hi for me. She’s a good friend of mine – and she is a NICU doc. at Suburban. Her practice will take great care of Gaby… they took great care of Sophia. Oh, and your due date (June 22nd) is Sophia’s birthday.
The snuedel thing made me laugh. I do hope Gaby can come home soon! I’m glad you are doing well. I’ll bet its a relief to be able to be up and around!
What’s really cute is that Rachel grabbed it and snuggled with it. So now Gabby can get used to her sister, too!
Look at all of her sweet hair. Soon enough, she’ll be home.
Gaby is adorable. I predict that you are going to have to buy a Snoedel for Rachel, too, so they can both have one!
We had one in the NICU but only for a few days. Get everything together for Gaby because once she is home the only things that matter are sleeping and eating (and I mean you!). With Gaby you should probably add a diaper change in there somewhere.
She is adorable! Congrats again!!!
Gaby is SOOOO cute. I love the second pic. Can I have a Snoedel too so I can pretend you are with me. 🙂