Care Time Routine

In the NICU, Matthew is left alone to rest and grow just as he would be if he were still in the womb, but every 3 hours, he has care time. A nurse who is assigned to him for the shift checks his vitals, changes his diaper, checks all his monitors, changes his oxygen monitor from one foot to the other, weighs him, measures and checks his tummy, takes care of any labs that need to be done, and anything else he needs. Every Monday his length is measured. Every three days, he gets a bath (sponge- until his umbilical cord stump falls off), and every few days he gets a “new” bed (clean sheets, blankets…everything that’s in his bed). Then when he’s all taken care of, he gets his food.

When we get to the NICU, this is usually how we find him…

Or like this…

Or like this…

At the beginning of his care time, he usually takes his time waking up, often giving us lots of stretches and yawns.

Then he can get pretty active, pulling on his cords, moving around, and keeping the nurse on her toes.

When Dustin or I am there, we get to take his temperature, change his diaper, switch his oxygen monitor, help with his bath, and help hold him up while he is weighed.

Then we get to snuggle him for as long as we want while his feeding is going. Matthew is always really alert for Dustin, and he loves interacting with his dad.

With mom, he is more of a snuggler. We enjoy lots of skin to skin time while we read a book together. We just finished “The Giver.” He loved it of course. He always settles right in and falls fast asleep.

And this past week, he started non-nutritive breast feeding, so we usually do that first for a few minutes while his feeding is going to help him make a connection between me and a full tummy. He isn’t quite mature enough yet to actually breast feed, but he’s doing awesome with these beginning steps.

Once his feed is done or whenever we have to go, the nurse helps get him all swaddled and tucked back into bed for his next nap. Usually he is as calm as can be and looks like this when we leave.

But one time, just as I was leaving, he started crying, and we could not figure out why. Poor kid. It broke my heart.