David and Deborah had to take a taxi to the hospital, because the car had been towed the night before.
What luck!
Deborah had to lie on her back for five days to prevent more amniotic fluid from leaking out, and finally went into labor. The baby was born at almost 29 weeks.
As you can see from these early pictures. He was tiny! 3 lbs 4 oz.
A little miracle boy.
It was as if we were giving an enormous gift.. the ability to see him, while he was still inside, still kicking and moving around inside the amniotic sac.
Imagine, if every parent could have that gift.. to see what their baby looked like during all nine months.
It was a whole routine, that gave us some comfort every time we went to the NICU.
First we would wash with anti-bacterial soap, then we would put on our blue smocks. And then we would go over to Yonah's incubator, and if it was time, we would take turns, taking his temperature, changing his diaper, and then feeding him with Mother's Milk we would bring in bottles. Then Deborah would go into the breastfeeding room and pump more milk for the baby's next feedings.
Sometimes, we would just watch him sleep, kick, and yawn. We would laugh when he got the hiccups which was often.
Deborah would stay with the baby, for about 6-12 hours a day, feeding him every three hours, eating, and pumping more milk, during the down time.
When we fed him, he would move his head back and forth in a little bobbing motion. It was so precious.
He was so quiet, and relaxed and hardly ever cried, except for:
a) if you stuck a needle in him, and then only for a few seconds.
b) when we held his legs up and together, to change him. He hated that. He wanted his legs free to kick!
It was the centerpiece on the food table, and it's one of my favorite pictures, because it shows Yonah, without so many wires, looking absolutely precious, with just his diaper and his hat.
He just opened his mouth and latched onto David's pinky finger. It was so precious.
Probably the only time I was jealous of David, wondering what that felt like to have Yonah sucking so hard on his finger.
What a yummy little guy.
When we returned on Sunday, he was beginning to bottle feed.
And then, by Monday he was chugging a lug, downing up to 10 cc's at a time. And then 20. And then 25. All the way up to 45 cc's toward the end.
Now you can see just how tiny Yonah was.
Yonah looks at his Daddy, while the milk flows down.
I would take pictures of David with Yonah, every evening, when he came to meet us at the hospital on the way home from work.
He couldn't bottle feed for every feeding because that would wear him out.
You can see his head is growing, because his
hat is now much tighter on his head.
Yonah sleeping, with his tube in his mouth.
Still inside his nice, warm incubator.
Deborah began to do "kangaroo care," where the baby lays against her chest and cuddles with her. And they both just enjoy the closeness of being together.
Also began first attempts at breast-feeding.
Yonah sleeping, with his tube in his mouth.
Still inside his nice, warm incubator. But so much bigger!
You can see his face pudging out a little bit. You can tell all that Mother's Milk and TLC is doing him good.
He's about 4 pounds in this picture.
He looks like a regular-sized baby, thanks to the handy zoom lens.
It was a little annoying.
Yonah was very smart, and immediately took his sleeve and covered his eyes, to block out the bright lights in the NICU.
And then Deborah had to keep prying his arm off his eyes so she could see him.
Where's Yonah hiding?
Most of his wires had come off.
If anything he was more active, kicking, and flaying about.
His flexibility always amazed us.
Yay! She snagged the rocking chair, a prize in the NICU, since it was much more pleasant than those stiff, stable chairs.
It was so difficult to leave Yonah that night.
Deborah was so worried that Yonah wouldn't be warm enough in the air- conditioned NICU.
She had to ask the nurse, where they'd put him.
The nurse quickly led Deborah to the Step-Up area.. where babies go when they graduate from the incubator, and are just being monitored to see if they can maintain their body temperature on their own.
Deborah brought in the cap from his new preemie outfit to keep his head warm.
It was either that or this weird cloth with a rubberband on top.
Still looking as small as ever.
The doctor freaked Deborah out by saying Yonah could come home by the end of the week.
It's what we wanted. But so nerve-wracking. Could we take care of him at home?
What did we know?
Now every time Deborah would come in, she would take Yonah in a back room to practice breastfeeding.
Yonah was finally catching on, starting to get the hang of it.
And Deborah was becoming more confident, and not as worried that Yonah was starving.
YONAH COMES HOME