It's hard to believe that my almost two-month-old was due TODAY (March 6th). For his un-birthday gift to me, he decided to spit-up ALL down my back after breakfast this morning. Lovely. (I guess that's what I get for not using a burp rag.)
I was trying to explain his whole "coming home on oxygen" business to my sister the other day, and she told me I should take pictures because it sounds complicated (it's really not too bad).
One of our first days in the NICU, I saw a couple leaving with their baby. Attached to the baby were cords and intimidating equipment and I could tell they were going home with oxygen. It looked scary. I told myself (and Dan and probably several of the nurses) that I would NOT be taking Owen home on oxygen. Well, I obviously ate those words. It's amazing what 34 days in the NICU can do to you. By his fourth week there, I was so ready to come home that I didn't care at all if the oxygen tank was coming with us.
This is his giant oxygen tank. It weighs over 50 pounds. We were given tubing that is 50-feet long, and thankfully we live in a small apartment because when we're home we can pretty much take him anywhere in our place thanks to the long tube.
That 50-foot tube eventually connects to his cute little face. The flesh-colored "stickers" on his face are to help hold it in place (he hates the oxygen and is constantly pulling at it). The stickers are the worst - they totally irritate his skin and we have to switch them out every couple of days (which he hates).
This is his monitor. The red number is his oxygen percentage and the green number is his pulse. If either number goes out of his "ok" range, it beeps. LOUD. You know the annoying beep your car makes when you don't put your seatbelt on? Multiply that by 1000 and you've got this thing. It doesn't stop beeping until he's back to normal. On one hand, this thing is a paranoid parent's bff. I don't have to wonder whether or not he stops breathing, because this thing will alert me if there is ever a problem, so I have plenty peace of mind when I leave him in his crib at night. On the other hand, it's super annoying because when it goes off, he is usually back into his normal range within 10-20 seconds, and we don't have to do anything other than dive for the silence button to make the beeping stop.
The sensor that is attached to his foot is how the monitor gets its numbers. (There is a red light on the sensor, which is why it looks like his foot is glowing.) If the sensor comes loose at all and can't read his numbers, the monitor beeps at us until its fixed. Again, super annoying because this kid likes to kick it off. The other annoying thing about the monitor is the cord is only about 3 feet long. We don't have the luxury of the 50-foot cord like we do with the oxygen tank. Which means wherever he goes, we have to carry the monitor with us. Having a squirmy newborn AND a monitor in your arms at 3 in the morning when you're trying to heat up a bottle can be a good time. The monitor also has to be plugged in to a power source most of the time (it has a battery, but its short-lived.) So when we need to change his diaper, we have to unplug the power cord from the monitor, and carry both him and the monitor to the changing table.
Oh yeah, and if we have to take him anywhere (which only happens once a week when he goes to the doctor since he's not allowed to be out in public until JUNE), we get to switch out his 50-foot cord for a shorter one and attach it to one of his portable oxygen tanks. I get pity looks from the other moms in the doctors office when they see me carrying a car seat, the oxygen tank, the monitor, and the diaper bag. It's quite the sight.
But there is a light at the end of the tunnel-he should be completely off oxygen by next week! Taking care of a newborn without a mess of cords and beeps is going to be amazing!!
