More Memories

Here are some more photos of Little Lamb from a little over a year ago. These were taken when she was 2 and 3 days old. I was still in the hospital at that point, as well, recovering from the surgery. So, daddy would wheel me down to the NICU a few times a day to go see her. I was so weak that I couldn't stay as long as I would have liked and I would stare at photos of her on our camera as soon as I got back to my hospital room because I missed her so much.

As you probably all know, she was 3 lbs. at birth. She didn't actually seem that tiny to us then because we hadn't had other full-term babies before her. We of course knew she was small, but I look back at our pictures of her and am in complete disbelief. I am glad we have this photo, below, of my hand on her because it helps put her size into perspective.

She was still on a respirator at the time this was taken. We are truly blessed because her lungs were fully developed at the time of her birth (they had given me steroids when I was admitted to the hospital a week earlier) and she only needed the respirator for 3 days. Then, she was on a C-PAP (I probably have the acronym wrong but you know what I mean) for 2 days. Then, the prong thing in her nose with oxygen for a day. And then she was just on regular room air from then on. The nurses were all amazed that she moved off of breathing assistance as quickly as she did given her gestational age. We thanked her guardian angel profusely! =)

The photo below is one of my favorites. Obviously I had a hard time seeing my little baby with so many tubes and wires attached to her, but after a day or two I learned to look past that and just enjoy every second I had with her and focus on the positive.

This kind of holding is called Kangaroo Care (or skin-to-skin care) and was recommended to us by the nurses right away. Of course I have forgotten all of the studies and facts behind it but basically the health benefits to the preemie of being held skin-to-skin are incredible. And then there is the bonding aspect, of course. I would hold her like this for 15-30 minutes at a time once or twice a day for the entire 8 weeks she was in the NICU. I also did this some even after brining her home, when she was still like 5 lbs.

One thing that I just remembered was the way we had to hold and touch her in her first few weeks. Hubby and I assumed that very light, delicate touches on her arms and legs and head would be soothing for her. However, the nurses explained that preemies' sense of touch is extremely heightened and that we should actually just place our hands over her and not move them. I remember having to remind myself of that because it was so natural for me to want to smooth out her hair or lightly touch her hand.

OK, speaking of the little one, she is demanding my attention right now (I know, how rude of her). =) More photos and memories to come...