I love working in the NICU because I get to see miracles happen all the time.
-A NICU nurse
It takes a special type of person to work in the NICU. I’ve never seen stronger, smarter, and more compassionate people than I have in the NICU in the past 3 weeks. The doctors are amazing, yes, but the nurses who are responsible for the babies 24 hours a day, working on 12 hour shifts, are extraordinary. They become advocates for their designated babies, not only keeping a watchful eye on them round the clock, but also sticking up for them when needed, helping guide the doctors’ recommendations for daily care. I am completely in awe of these nurses and forever grateful for their care of Sol.
Sol has won over many of the NICU nurses and we always see new additions to his crib area: a sign for his bin of books, a cute Halloween photo and more. As we visit with him, many stop by to comment on how well he is looking. This always boosts my optimism: it’s one thing for his Mom to notice how good he looks, it’s another when it comes from someone else!
More importantly, we had a huge step in feeding, thanks to Judy, the nurse designated to Sol today. She sat next to me as we tried giving him his first bottle since he was at Sibley – three long weeks ago. I was a bit nervous to give it to him, worried that it might go down the wrong tube and make him afraid of it. Judy coached me through it and at our 9am feeding, Sol had 5ml by bottle with a big burp in the middle. A success! We tried again at noon and got 8ml down, again with a good burp.
These are baby steps in terms of the amounts that he should consume by bottle, but huge in terms of practicing feeding. Practice makes perfect, right? We got the go ahead to continue practicing over the weekend, so we’ll take it nice and slow and see how we do.
Another great day at the NICU!
Getting a pep talk from Nana:
Dad time: 
Snazzy new swaddle sleep sack: 
Snuggling with Mom:
Sol the Man 
Sol is really lucky to have such a devoted Mom. Hope you have a good day today.
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Hoo-ray for the feeding progress. Soon he’ll be wanting meat and potatoes.
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Camie and Mike, I’m wagging my finger as I’m saying to you, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Listen to Sol and he will tell you what his pace will be. Two years after Cody’s accident, he went to school yesterday as Spiderman, charmed everyone as he marched in the school parade. That was all before going to therapy and maxing his speech testing to the great applause of one and all. None of this happened over night…it happened on “Cody time” with lots of love and support from his family and a huge team of dedicated professionals just like the folks Sol has won over at Georgetown. You and he are in spectacular hands…be patient.
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