More Pictures of Pat: Day 1 (Barely)

I couldn't sleep after saying 'goodnight' to Pat and leaving him alone in an NICU, so I put together some of the photos we took of him today and posted them here, in our Flickr site.

It was a very long day. Pui had a looong night, and began serious labor (with pushing) just before 9 AM. When noon was approaching, Pui - and everyone else in the room, but mostly Pui - was exhausted. The doctor suggested we try a vacuum or forceps. I think they were beginning to think that an emergency C-section would be needed: Pui was that exhausted from a night of hard contractions. We agreed to the forceps, and shortly before noon the room started to fill up with people. There was several people from the NICU, the team that looks over the baby, several nurses, several doctors, people all done up in scrubs (prepared for an emergency C-section, I think - I was too tired to ask). Then Dr. Sue, with Dr. Brown watching, used the forceps to pull Pat out during a contraction. Whew!

I clearly remember Pat coming out, but I can barely remember cutting the umbilical cord.

He was examined, cleaned, weighed, and handed to me. I didn't really know what to do, so I did what any good first-time father does in this situation - I handed him to his mother. Shortly after that, Pat was taken to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) where he had baby's first IV installed. His blood oxygen levels, pulse, and respiration rates were monitored as the Prostiglandin E - the chemical that will help keep him alive until his surgery - was introduced via Baby's first IV. Everyone who worked with him commented on how strong and healthy he was. When he was unhappy, he gave everyone a demonstration of how healthy his lungs were. And although he had bluish hands and feet at first, by 4:00 he was literally all pink.

Pui had a chance to visit Pat in the NICU twice - once about 40 minutes after birth, when she was in a wheel chair, and once about 4 hours after birth, when she walked over. The second time Pui got to nurse Pat. He didn't get any milk, but he did latch and suckle. He is truly our child - born to eat. :-)

At around 5:00 a mobile NICU unit from Children's hospital arrived, and I went with pat to the new hospital. I was exhausted and not thinking real well, so I was very glad when my Father and Sister managed to find us at the reception desk of the Children's Hospital NICU. We saw Pat situated, and talked with one of the Cardiologists. Dad and Katy went home, and I tried to sleep. But I couldn't. So I went down and said goodnight to Pat. Leaving him there alone was one of the hardest things I have ever done. But there is tomorrow, and all the tomorrows to follow.