Brent and I were able to get some sleep on Sunday evening and even take a moment to go down the hall and say hi to our little man. It was a much needed night with the both of them. It helped me rejuvenate and calm down my whirlwind of emotions. Don’t get me wrong though, I was still very emotional but I was controlling it more.
We started the day off slow with a little in room breakfast and coffee. Then the family arrived and we brought my parents and sister in to see Elijah. We can let family in, but only Brent and I are allowed to handle him. They all take what they can get and are at least thankful that they can see him.
Elijah was still intubated, but it was making him breathe better and he continued to improve with each passing hour. Finally the news came that I would be able to hold him! After waiting oh so long, I was completely over joyed and cried yet again. These are happy tears. I went back to our room down the hallway to get a nap in before lunch and then holding him closer to 1. The time frame changed to me holding him around 12, but I was ecstatic no matter if it cut into my nap or not. I headed over to the NICU overwhelmed with excitement. I got already and before I knew it, I was holding my baby boy! I got to spend 3 hours cuddling him and I was so over joyed! It was a much needed time for the both of us. This skin on skin really seems to be helping Elijah improve as well.
After that amazing time, we went back to our room down the hallway and packed things up. We moved over to the Ronald McDonald house to free up the NICU family room in case of an emergency situation like ours. After dropping everything off, we headed back over for my parents and sister to say goodbye to Elijah. We all said our goodbyes and they hit the road.
Brent and I took this time with just the two of us to go off and grab a quick dinner. It was nice to have family there for us, but we also really needed this alone time. We spent some more time with the little guy and then enjoyed some time with our friends that were driving through town. Another good moment to see friends from home.
Then it was goodnight to Elijah (who was our blue light special for the evening – jaundice) and off to the house we went to start settling into a routine with every three hours of getting up at night and working on some sleep. On day was a great day, but Tuesday was even better. More on that to come.
