Seeing Reyes the 1st time

Hubby came to the hospital about 10 am today, he mentioned that the neonatal docs called him past midnight last night to ask if he is still around in the hospital as they have already settled Reyes. That made me kind of anxious to see him.


I was feeling fine even though I just delivered last night. We proceed to the the NICU at about 11 am, but only managed to speak to a nurse and not see my baby cos they are kinda strict with visiting hours. 12 noon to 2 pm and 6 to 8 pm are the visiting hours and only parents and grandparents are allowed.


So I went back to my ward, finished my lunch and went back to NICU again and this time I saw Reyes! He is small and boney as he has not plump up yet. We were taught how to sanitize our hands before opening the doors of the incubator to touch him.


Was told by the attending nurse that there was high level carbon dioxide in his body so an extra oxygen tube was administered to him the night before. But because he was getting better today, it was removed in the morning thus it left a bit of a abrasion redness on his nose.


Both maternal and paternal grandparents also had a chance to see him today. There was even a tiny episode of Regan throwing tantrums not being allowed to see his brother due to his age but that soon blew over.

These are some of his pics we took:

The blue and white tube going to his nose is called CPAC (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) - Oxygen (or air) is delivered under a small amount of pressure through prongs that fit into the nostrils. Delivering oxygen under pressure helps to keep the air sacs in the lung open.

There's also 2 tubes running into his umbilical code. After the umbilical cord is cut at birth, newborn babies have the short stump of the cord remaining. Because the umbilical cord stump is still connected to the baby's blood and circulatory system, a catherer (small flexible tube) can be inserted into one of the two arteries or the vein of the umbilical cord. After placement of the umbilical catheter, x-rays are taken to check the location in the baby's body.

The umbilical venous line is used to give the baby medication, glucose water and parenteral nutrition.
The umbilical arterial line is used for blood sampling and blood pressure monitoring.

*extracted from Parental Information on Important Procedures Carried Out in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Department of Neonatology, KK Hospital