Report from the front

So here I am actually reporting live from the NICU. No cell phones allowed – as they can actually interfere with some of the ventilator machines (I think) – but laptops are okay. This will probably be significantly more meaningful to us once we lose our plush hotel room upstairs (and that happens tomorrow, just in time for Tryptophan Day (I oughtn’t be glib, actually – this will indeed be a day for giving thanks, as many have pointed out in the comments)). 

Nothing much doing up here right now. It’s a sunny day and I’m back in Satch’s room (the other two doors are closed – which I take to mean give the little guys some peace) alternately looking at the little man under his Billy Ruben (isn’t that a sandwich?) lights and out the window at sunny, empty, glorious Hadlock Field. The field – which is home base for the Portland Seadogs, the AA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, is modeled on the dimensions of Fenway Park, including a giant Green Monster and a big Citgo sign as well. Don’t worry – Satch and co. will be Yankee fans if dad has even an ounce of say in the matter (and I hear that’s debatable). I hope loyal readers here don’t think having all of their baby clothing emblazoned with the traditional interlocking NY was going too far… Alex has so far managed to talk me out of the tattoos. 

I was saying. Here waiting for rounds – where the head neonatologist and all of the nurse practitioners, RNs and other responsible parties gather for an open conference about each mini-me. (mini-Alex too – don’t pounce) It’s a delightful process here – the parents are invited, even encouraged to be a part of these daily meetings, and to ask questions and voice concerns. No-one here has ever made us feel like we’re getting in the way – quite the contrary in fact, our input seems really to be valued, and…and…here come the docs!

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A very short rounds today – our boys are a bit boring, which is what we want. Levi and Satch are thriving – minor little things here and there, but all normal and nothing alarming. And the echo on Pab’s heart has showed that the open ductus is much smaller today, and that he’s moving – on his own – in the right direction. Life in the NICU is up and down, and Pablo in particular isn’t out  of the woods. But today’s up, and we’ll be hopping up there with our open pouches before long. 

-Dan