Rooming In

We roomed in with Nicholas last night. It went well and we are comfortable with his at home monitor. It went off for low heart rate once but he was pink and moving when we got to the crib. It also went off because his lead wire came off. It is super loud and there is no way we will sleep through it. I'm sure it will get the dogs going too. He cried a lot and seemed to just want to be held. We didn't get much sleep but we won't anymore so we will get used to it.

I met with the physical and speech therapists yesterday. They showed me exercises to do with him. The physical therapist said he is doing well but she is concerned about his legs. We have been too because they are very stiff and he doesn't move them nearly as much as his arms. She thinks he will do better at home with his PT. She is also concerned that he turns his head to one side all the time. It can lead to something that is really hard to correct because the neck muscles will get really weak on one side. She said to try to keep his head in a mid line position as much as possible. She also suggested infant massage and I asked about baby yoga. She said that yoga would be good too because anything that gives him a work out will help with his tone problems. Early intervention is key and we started the application process for the state's EI program. We just have to wait until the provider contacts us. In the mean time we will do the exercises she showed us and I'm going to look for massage and yoga books/videos.

Tomorrow is the big day. It seems unreal and as strange as it sounds I will actually miss the NICU. There are so many wonderful people there and they saved Nicholas' life and nourished him to health so he can come home. I hope we stay friends with his nurses and will miss them.