Thoughts on the NICU

Got his idea from Babycenter.com, and thought it was pretty funny.

You know you've been in the NICU for too long when --

"You try to turn the water on at home with your feet."

"You know how to run down the 'Cares' checklist like a champ."

"You know what 'Cares' are."

"You start dreaming you're a NICU nurse."

"Whenever you're hungry you start thinking what you're own 'readiness score' is."

"The nurses don't ask 'who are you here to see' before buzzing you in."

"You know the metric system better than the US system."

"36.5 Celcius just doesn't come fast enough."
"You're not concerned when the oxygen monitor is going off, as long as it says 'Low Quality'."
"You understand how to read your baby's charts, and check his 'orders' for the day as soon as you walk in."

I can't take credit for these... Thank you dharmabummer and Forum contributors from Babycenter.com.

"You hoard plastic bottles and labels for your milk."

"You think it's completely normal for complete strangers to walk in on you when you are topless and breasfeeding/pumping."

"You go home and hear bells ringing in your head."

"You know every nurse by name."

"You don't have to look at the clock to know when five minutes scrubbing time is up."
"You start correcting the nurses when they forget to do something."

Lt. Reid got moved to a twin bed so he could have the boppy pillow in the bed, and be elevated more. 

The monitoring system that goes off whenever his oxygen sensor moves off his foot. Luckily, it hasn't legitimately gone off from his oxygen being too low. 

The work of a true pumper. Pump, bottle, label... my routine every four hours., but I got it down to 15 minutes. 

Where I sit all day and my trusted pumper... I've never been so close to an inanimate object. 

The weight station. Used for nightly weighs and whenever we attempt breastfeeding.

The greatest baby in the world.