“] 

His first milestone: A BIG SMILE!!

On Sunday, we attended mass at St. Mary’s. Going to church is becoming easier for me now [will post about that later] and I prayed to let me hold my son again. Sure enough, as soon as we walked in to the NICU, they said I can! It felt like it’s been forever since I got to snuggle with him!

I was super excited to hear from Celeste, one of Luke’s primary RNs, that I can FINALLY hold him in my arms again. Since there were some minor things to consider – like levels were unstable, dopamine, babying the Arterial Line, Infection – we refrained from holding him outside of his isolette and tried ‘containment holds’ as much as we can. We also refrained from pinching his toes and thighs alike

The process of taking him out of his isolette takes 2 people for now. There’s a bunch of wires and tubes that need to move with him too. So when I Kangaroo him, I try to be in a comfortable position for at least an hour. While I was holding him, Neill took a bunch of pictures, and this one immediately caught our eye. It’s a smile! I’m sure he was excited as I was when we finally got to feel each other. He needed it as much as I did – and it shows!

When we were at the NICU today, we asked nurses if it’s too early for him to smile. They said “It’s possible, but can be gas.” Haha! So I showed them this picture – and they said – “It’s a smile. It’s confirmed. He doesn’t have that grunt look or wrinkles on his forhead.”

Gas or not, this face is worth a million bucks!!