Summertime in the NICU

Dear Charlie Bird,

We made it to June 1st. While all of my coworkers and all of the neighbor kids are getting ready for "summer" with school ending in the next few days, we are still here with you in the "Small Baby Unit," where time seems to stand still and fly all at the same time. Your mom and I have been so proud of you these past few weeks, because so much has happened, while nothing has happened at the same time. What I mean by this is, you've continued to grow big and strong, while not having those dramatic and scary "episodes" from weeks past. Let's review what's been going on...

Day 33: 5/23/21 - On this day, Mom and I both had some time holding you, Mom in the morning and I in the evening. We brought in some new books for you, but kept Chicka Chicka Boom Boom since that's still your favorite. We read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? We still have been picking out new sheets for you each night, and this night we chose leopard print. My Aunt Kathy (she wants you to call her "Aunt Great") loves leopard print, so we sent her some pictures of you.

However, the most exciting part of the night was getting to do your care, specifically finding out your weight. On this day, you crossed the 3lb. mark! We were so excited, and Nurse Megan made you another amazing craft to commemorate the major achievement!

Day 34: 5/24/21 - You're still on NIPPV, and your rate went down from 30 to 20. You and Mom had some more skin-to-skin time, and you gained an ounce, putting you at 3lbs. 1oz. You still had a few alarms at night, but usually those happened when you were pooping. A lot of people forget to breathe when they poop, so don't be too embarrassed!

Day 35: 5/25/21 - Nurse Holly was back on this day! Your Mom and I woke up early to get down to the hospital because we thought your first eye exam was on this day. Nurse Megan called before her night shift ended and told us the dates were mixed up, and that your exam was next week. So, taking advantage of the fact that we were awake, your Mom and I went to brunch at Nonna's in Ada before coming to the hospital. You again had a few alarms at night, but nothing major. During your evening care, you had no weight gain, but you grew! You measured to be 1-foot, 3-inches. Only five more feet to go until you're a dominant post player on your basketball team. We also put you in your very first outfit, a “preemie onesie” that was still too big for you from Maggie and Kyle (you’ll be friends with their kiddos in no time!). We had some fun doing a little photo shoot.

But maybe the best news of the day was that you switched back to your CPAP machine. You were officially back on "the bubbles." To celebrate, your Mom and I went out to dinner that night for our anniversary (two weeks late, since everything we do is on your time now). Your Mom ordered some "bubbles" for herself.

Day 36: 5/26/21 - On this day, we awoke to news that you went 24 hours with NO alarms! Nurse Kate was back and she said she was so proud to see you back on the bubbles. Not only that, but you were on the bubbles at "room air," that 21% oxygen level that we love. I was able to hold you for a while, which is always the highlight of my day. Then, we gave you a mini-bath, scrubbing your hair and behind your ears. We called it your first spa day (don't get used to them, though!). After that, Mom tried holding you, but you weren't having it. You had a Brady (which we realized was because you pooped), so Mom put you back in your nest, and as soon as that happened, you were a happy camper. Your night nurse was Nurse Natalie. Natalie actually grew up right next door to me in Fort Wayne, so having her take care of you was pretty special.

One more thing I have to share, only because I thought it was hilarious. Poppy was down in Seaside and sent pictures of his dinner. He ordered some fried frog legs from one of our favorite restaurants down there, and when the picture came in, I had to do a double-take because I thought, for a second, it was a picture of your lower half.

Now, I won’t embarrass you by putting a picture of your butt on the inter webs, but I DO have a picture of your butt that looks EXACTLY like these frog legs, just not deep fried. When I told Poppy about the resemblance, he quickly lost his appetite, and this dish was ruined forever.

Day 37: 5/27/21 - You had another night with no alarms! Because of that, the doctors moved your "PEEP" down to 7.0. Not only that, but you packed on 80(!!!) grams last night, pushing your weight up to 3lbs. 4oz. This was by far your biggest gain of your young life. Your mom and I were stunned when we heard but proud of our Chunky Monkey nevertheless.

Day 38: 5/28/21 - Nurse Holly was back today, and you had your follow-up heart echocardiogram. They were checking to see if your PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus) was closing, and it did get smaller, which was awesome news. Dr. Doctor (we call him Dr. Ben) was very encouraged by your results and your progress. The doctors did not make any changes during their rounds, and you had another day with no alarms! It really seems like things starting to "click" for you in terms of breathing on your own, keeping your oxygen saturation levels in the desired range, and all that. Your good behavior gives your Mom and I some comfort in doing things outside of the hospital.

Day 39: 5/29/21 - Remember that whole thing about your Mom and I being comfortable staying away from the hospital when you were doing especially well? So, we did that... Mostly because we started an addicting TV show called Mare of Easttown. We told ourselves we would watch one episode and then head to the hospital, but then that episode ended, and we both looked at each other with the same idea: "We can totally watch one more." Five weeks ago, your Mom and I would have never dreamed that we would feel secure enough to watch TV instead of getting to the hospital at the crack of dawn. But it was also a testament to how well you were doing. We remember looking around the Small Baby Unit and seeing other babies who were one-month old. There were times when Mom and I thought we would never get there, as it seemed so far away. Now here we were, approaching six weeks, getting updates about you having no alarms. We tell each other often how lucky we to have you being so strong. Unfortunately, not every family is as lucky as we have been.

Once we made it to the hospital around lunch time, Nurse Kate told us the doctors had moved you off of the "continuous drip" feed. Now, you were eating your meals over a two-and-a-half hour period. Not only that, but you gained even more weight, clocking in at 3lbs. 6oz.

Day 40: 5/30/21 - Mom came in to hold you today, and you continued to make improvements! Because you handled your two-and-a-half hour compression feeds well, they moved you to a two-hour compression. And since you've been packing on the "El Bee's" (actually, just the "Oh Zee's"), they removed the cream that had been in your feeds for the past few weeks. With the removal of the cream, your weight plateaued a bit, but that was to be expected. I stayed home this day to watch our neighbor Adam smoke a brisket that weighed four times your weight (I was taking mental notes throughout the process). Someday soon, you'll be sitting on the driveway with me, Capri Sun in your hand, smoking some brisket together.

Day 41: 5/31/21 - Today, our country celebrated Memorial Day! This is a day to celebrate and remember people who are serving, or have served, in the military. In your family, you have some special people who served in the military for our country (and for their home countries). Your great-grandfather, Daddy Rock (Poppy's dad), served in the U.S. Navy, Birdie's late husband Peer served in the Danish Underground, resisting the Nazi occupation of his home country of Denmark, and your great-great Granddad Joe (GD’s Grandpa) served in the Army and was in Wold War II and the Korean War. I'll tell you all about them someday when you're older.

Daddy Rock - US Navy (right)

Peer Baekgaard - Danish Underground

You even made them a little craft in honor of the holiday!

You reached your gestational age of 32 weeks today. You continued to be an absolute rock star. You were weened on your CPAP settings to a PEEP of 6.0. The best part of the day, though, was when Mom put you back after some skin-to-skin, because you were wide awake for about 20 minutes, and you weren't even on your CPAP. Nurse Brooke kept your mask off for a bit so we could see your face, and you just looked at us with your big eyes. You sucked on a pacifier (pretty aggressively, actually) and just hung out for a while, which allowed us to take some great pictures and videos. The nurses have said that you are ready to move out of the "small baby unit" any day now, and that somewhat signifies the point in time where you are considered a "fun baby," rather than a baby that is a bit "touch-and-go." We are excited for more days to interact with you when you're awake and alert just like this!

Day 42: 6/1/21 - Today was truly the day of your first eye exam, so Mom and I woke up early and got to the hospital before 8am so we could be here with you during what's been described as a quick, but "not-so-fun" procedure. Basically, the ophthalmologist (eye doctor) was looking for a condition called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). Because you were born so premature, the blood vessels in your eyes can have a difficult time developing. You received some eye drops to dilate your eyes around 6:45am, and the doctor came in around 9am to do the exam. She had to clamp your eyes open and use a "depressor" to move your eye ball around to check your blood vessels. Not surprisingly, you did NOT like this, letting out the loudest cry we've heard from you thus far in your life. However, you had your mom containing you, telling you how great you were doing, and the procedure only lasted a few minutes.

You didn't even de-sat or Brady during the exam. Better yet, the doctor told us your eyes looked great, and that there was no sign of ROP! You'll have another eye exam in two weeks, but this was another milestone that we could check off of the list. The doctors rounded and even considered moving you to a one-and-a-half hour feeding compression, but Mom and I thought your eye exam should be your "big" thing for the day (Nurse Holly agreed). As long as you continue to do well, and your blood oxygen level continues to look like this, you'll be moving to shorter compressions and lower CPAP levels in no time.

You have some big things on the horizon, including a possible "graduation" from the Small Baby Unit. We are so proud of how well you've been doing (even if we can't truly believe it at times). As of the writing of this letter, you are 3lbs. 7oz, your CPAP "PEEP" is at 6.0 (with 5.0 being the lowest PEEP before trying to ween you off of the machine altogether!), and you are eating 32mL of breast milk every feed (so 16mL per hour). Keep eating, girlfriend, because Mom has almost 9,000 mL of breast milk in her supply at the hospital.

As we start a new month in the NICU, we are so excited for the changes that are to come for you, Charlie Bird! Keep making us proud parents.

Love, Dad