Today on rounds your doctors seemed to have begun seriously considering what needed to be accomplished before your release. One of their primary concerns was that you were going to be flying home with us to St. Louis, and they were concerned that the low oxygen concentration of the airplane would overtax your lungs and heart, which were just recovering from your rough start.
So we got to take a trip across the skybridge to a different wing of the hospital for an altitude test. It was the first time you had felt the light of the sun on your face - and I can't say you were a fan. Mommy took lots of pictures for you anyway - you will love this beautiful world of ours, I promise you.
To perform the altitude test they place a secure plastic bubble all the way around you. They hooked you up to oxygen, just in case you started feeling distress, and the gradually reduced the oxygen concentration within the bubble. The technician performing the test said she had never done it on such a teeny baby - all of you fit inside the bubble! (Instead of just your head). You were extremely cooperative and snoozed peacefully almost through the entire test - you only woke up near the end. The tech said it was one of the only altitude tests she had ever done at Children's that had not involved lots of tears and screaming.
We did get very worried, because she had to turn on the oxygen, so it seemed to us like you had failed the test, and the tech said we might need to bring oxygen canisters on the plane with us and have you hooked up to it for the flight. I called your Dad that night and said that I was officially NOT going to try and fly home alone with you - so he better book his tickets for that weekend.
Even though we thought you failed the test, we started taking pictures of all of the incredible nurses who took care of you during your stay and were so wonderfully kind to us. However much we did not like certain other aspects of the hospital, the nursing staff in Oakland Children's NICU was truly incredible. It would have been so much harder without their multitude of tiny kindnesses to us throughout your stay.
This is Molly - the nurse we had on the 2nd shift of the day we met you. When Molly found out that we didn't know anything about why you were in the NICU and realized how scared we were, she immediately went and got the resident, Tristan to go through your chart with us, and he was able to assure us that you were such a strong, healthy boy (and we could stop poking you to make sure you had all your organs). Her kindness saved me an unbelievable stressful 12 hours as I held you through the night. So many people fail to understand how scary it is to see a little baby in a hospital bed - and think that 12-18 hours is no big deal, why NOT just wait until the next morning's rounds. Only Molly understood that having that information sooner could provide such immense relief.
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