Yesterday was a big day with Miles' circumcision and his first night without the evil monitors and accompanying cords and under the careful watch of his parents.
Who knew a circumcision could be so hard to arrange? Apparently, if you are not doing a bris, it is the job of your OB to perform the rite. But if you deliver 10 weeks early, obviously circumcision is not done right after birth like for full-termers. So when we started down the bris route, the hospital put us in touch with a moyel who also happens to be an OB. However when we decided to just circumcise, the moyel told us to check with my OB who hemmed and hawed and then after multiple phone calls and precious days, she convinced another doctor in her practice to do it.
So yesterday at noon, under the careful knife of Dr. Horowitz and the Olympic Circumstraint, with mom watching on, Miles became an MOT. Fortunately with a circumcision, they use lanacaine to numb the area vs a bris when its just some sweet wine on the baby's gums. And Dr. Horowitz even threw in the prayer, making it more than just the cutting of the foreskin.
Last night felt like deja vu as Dave and I trekked back to the hospital around 10 pm, the same time we went in when I had preterm labor. We checked into our room on the post partum floor, where I had been after Miles was born. And this time, we were those people with a baby in their room. Chrissie, our favorite nurse, removed all of Miles attachments - oh, how much easier it was to hold and move him around!, weighed him for the last time (a whopping 5 pounds, 7 oz), stocked us up with diapers, wipes, swaddlers, burp clothes and medication for his circumcision and then off we went down the hall, where she left us alone with him for the very first time.
Our first thought....now what? And to help us, Miles pooped us and wet through his last remaining clean outfit. After changing him, the clothes and the bedding, he rejected the breast and downed 90 mls (3 ozs) from a bottle in 15 minutes, pooped again and then finally went to sleep. I still had to trudge back to the NICU, pump even more milk for him and finally got to sleep by midnight, giving me two hours of sleep before his 2:30 am feeding. And again, he rejected the boob, opted for 3 ozs in the bottle and while he and Dave snoozed, I pumped once again. When Chrissie arrived at 6:30 am and offered to take him off our hands one last time, we jumped at the chance.
And somewhat sleep-deprived, we brought him home around noon, noting the songs played on the radio - the first music of Miles life. Neil Young's "Long may you live" was first. How fitting. As we unloaded him from the car, a woman with a stroller walking by asked if we were bringing a new baby home. I choked up when I said that it had been a long time coming.
Finally, after 45 days in the NICU, Miles has made it home. We could not be happier and are transfixed by his presence. Baker is curious and so far, aloof.
1 comment:
i don't think we slept at all those first couple of nights. we slept in shifts, actually, because one of us always wanted to be watching Penelope. I joked that the minute my husband fell asleep I'd make the "doot doot!" sound that the monitor made when she had a desat, but that became less funny when she was actually home.
I remember sleeping on the couch with her on my chest because she wouldn't be put down and I was too scared to try to sleep in the bed with her.
We've come a long way... sort of! Enjoy having him home!
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