We had a great experience at Baylor Frisco! The 2 1/2 days that we were there seemed like 1 reallllllly long day! All day and into the night Thursday, I must have still been running on adrenaline. I only got 1-2 hours of sleep total because I was so excited to hang out with Nico. He was so adorable asleep in my arms and kept making little sounds or movements every few minutes. I remember looking at him and thinking that I don't think it's possible to love him anymore than I do! My heart just melts when I look at him. I had a moment when I just started crying because I was so overjoyed. And then I thought about him growing up so fast and that he won't be this little and adorable forever, and it made me really sad! Oh, the emotions of motherhood.
As I sat there through the night unable to sleep, I tried to engrave it in my brain to enjoy every little phase that he goes through and not just spend time looking forward to the future. I know that I will look back on these early days and miss them, even if they become frustrating and exhausting at times. That perspective has continued to stick with me for the most part, and I definitely have soaked in every moment thus far. Each day I have continued to have that moment when I can't help but let tears run down my face as I stare at the little guy.
Friday brought its own set of adventures for Nico. It started with a photography session in our room, where out of nowhere, Nico became very alert and smiley! It was unbelievable to see the transformation as if he knew he was having pictures taken. The photographer got some great shots that I will forever cherish!
Coach Zea came to visit him that morning. She said that she couldn't believe how calm he was, and said that it must skip a generation. Ha! A few hours later, we had another set of visitors- my parents brought along Great Grandma Elson. She said that it was one of the best days of her life.
Later that afternoon, Nico had a newborn hearing screening. It was way more advanced than I ever would have imagined. They placed electrodes on his head and measured brain activity in response to a sound. While the end result was that he passed, it took a good 45 minutes because one of his ears had to be repeated a few times. The administer said that it's common to have fluid in the ear that messes with the results. I was supposed to have an allotted nap time of 2-4 with no disturbances, but the hearing test took so long that it cut into that. I was faced with the dilemma of trying to nap for 45 minutes or taking a shower. The shower won.
One of the highlights of the stay was the celebration dinner that we were served. They offer steak and lobster, but David chose steak + steak and I had steak + chicken. The chocolate cake was the best dessert EVER!
Later that night, I hit my wall and became so exhausted. I used the nursery that night so that I could get some sleep. They brought me Nico at 3 hour intervals to feed him. I was able to sneak in a couple of 2 hour naps. One thing that I will always remember is the special moment that we had in the middle of the night. The nurses brought me Nico and he was wiiiide awake with big blue eyes. It was awesome to just stare into each others eyes like that for the first time. He looked so perfect and had that fresh baby smell. That was also the time that the breastfeeding turned the corner, and he had a feeding longer than 5 minutes. That relieved some of my stress since I was so worried and starting to feel like a failure, even though the nurses kept reassuring me that it's common for newborns to feed poorly for the first 24 hours. I even woke up David to tell him the news.
I was awakened by the pediatrician, Dr. Kessinger, about 6:45 on Saturday morning. He had a good report on Nico's health and thought that he had a strong name! He was very thorough and covered a lot of the basics that I needed to know for the next few days. Nico's final weight was 6 lbs, 7 oz, so he lost only 6 oz since birth. He set up an appt for us for Monday.
The next hour or two went by slowly because I was so anxious to come home! We left about 9:30 Saturday morning.
Headed HOME SWEET HOME!
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