Moving West!

Today, Miles was moved from NICU East to West. This means nothing to you but in the language of CPMC NICU, this is the last stop on the road home. And so tonight, we are happy!

As we have learned, the first stop is NICU North or the central station. This is where newborns come and stay when their needs are the greatest. It is loud and crowded windowless cavern with doctors and nurses rushing around and endlessly beeping machines. Once a baby is stabilized, they are moved on. In Miles case, he moved to the East after 4 days. The difference is night and day. The room is darkened, hushed and much more spacious, bringing the babies closer back to the experience of the womb.

And so the lore goes, when your baby is close to going home, he is sent to the West, which is located on the other side of the floor right next to the Well baby nursery (where full term babies go) and the post partum rooms. According to a nurse, this is where the most stable babies go. It is not a sign he will be going home soon, just that he does not require the same level of monitoring as babies in the East. But, there are always exceptions - babies go home from the North and East and babies in the West are moved back to the other wings.

But for now, he is in the West. A smaller room, filled with natural light, that immediately feels less urgent and scary. Most babies are in open cribs and moms and dads are at bedsides feeding from bottles. It is a great environment. The only letdown is that we left our neighbor and friend behind in the East and hope they will join us soon.

Miles is still in the isolette and still being fed from the tube. His doctor said that if his progress continues, he will likely move to an open crib by the end of the week and will try for a bottle within the next week. All great news!