Monday, March 30, 2009
Mia's home!
So, after nearly 4 months of visits to the NICU, Mia's finally home, and she's doing great. We've moved to Imabari, but I'm currently on the island at the town hall. I leave today for good. We won't have internet for a while, so updates might be a bit infrequent. We'll do what we can to keep you all informed.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Some video of Mia
Here are a couple videos of Mia from this week. She's getting so big! We haven't gone to the hospital today, but we expect she'll be up to 5 pounds today. Enjoy!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Long Week Ahead
Yesterday, we got to give Mia a bath for the first time. They had Stef hold her awkwardly in one hand and use the other hand to soap her up and pour water over her. It looked pretty tough, and it was made tougher by the fact that it was hard to communicate with the nurse. But it was nice to see Mia's reaction to the water. Like Kelsey before her, she seems to like it.
As I was helping to dry her off, she started to get a bit fussy. I crouched down and got close to her and started talking, and she quickly calmed down. She's a real sweetie. I'm sure her eyes are blue.
After spending the few minutes bathing her, it was time for Stef to breast feed her. They curtain off the section and the men leave, so I took Kelsey out to get some food. The plan was to go eat and come back by 3 PM so that I could spend a half-hour with Mia before I had to head back to the train station to start the trek back to the island. I told Kelsey beforehand that we were going to get some chicken nuggets, and she was giddily talking to herself and me about how she was going to eat nuggets. The two of us rode the bike to McDonald's, where I got a couple 100 yen menu items (like the dollar menu in the U.S.) and Kelsey got her nuggets. Kelsey smiled the whole time as she tore little pieces off the nuggets and dipped them in barbecue sauce. In between bites, she enthusiastically pointed out features of the second floor of the restaurant, where we sat. It was really nice to have a little daddy-daughter date with her. I think I'll continue them when we get to Imabari.
We left McDonald's and biked back to the hospital, arriving at 3. When we got to the door of the NICU, I rang the bell to ask a nurse if she could watch Kelsey while I saw Mia. Stef was standing in sight, holding Mia. I lifted Kelsey up and explained that the baby that Mommy was holding was Mia. I'm still not sure if she really gets it, but she was pretty excited to announce that Mommy was seeing Mia.
When I put Kelsey down and tried to enter the NICU, I got bombarded by a doctor, who wanted to tell me that we should call the days before we want to bathe Mia ourselves. The nurse who had come to help didn't really watch Kelsey, so I had to chase Kelsey around while trying to end the conversation with the doctor. I told them that I had to leave for the island by 3:30, and that I really wanted to see Mia. The conversation continued until 3:20, and I was getting really upset that they wouldn't just leave me alone. All I wanted was to see my daughter for a few minutes before I left to be alone on the island all week. At 3:25, I finally got rid of the doctor, but it didn't leave me enough time to go in, since I'd have to wash my hands twice and get dressed in the plastic hospital poncho before entering.
I decided to go around the side and just look at Mia through the glass, since she's right up against it. When I got there, 8-10 nurses flipped out about how I wasn't in there with her. I frantically tried to communicate with gestures about how I had no time, and so I just wanted to see her for a minute, and that I wanted them to just leave me alone, but it was too late. Wanting to be helpful, they sent a doctor around to talk to me and ask me why I wasn't coming in. I quickly explained that I had to leave in 4 minutes, and that I just wanted to see her before I left. She said that she understood, but then started asking me questions about where we were going to live and how the TV interview went. At this point, I lost it. I gave short, monosyllabic (or at least the Japanese equivalent) answers and then stopped answering her questions altogether. She eventually got the drift and turned around. As she walked away, I apologized. I looked at Mia for about thirty seconds, and then I had to turn and leave.
I feel bad that I was short with the doctors, but I really wish they would have just left me alone. In their efforts to help, they robbed me of one of the few chances I get to see my daughter. It took a lot for me not to start sobbing. The stress of the situation got to me and I was short with Stef. She had had stresses of her own while waiting for me inside the NICU. In the end, I didn't even get to have a proper goodbye with her and Kelsey. No hugs. Nothing.
For most of the five hour trip home, I distracted myself by reading Orwell's 1984. I'm really enjoying it. Some of the parallels with modern government are spooky, to say the least.
Sigh. It's going to be a long week.
As I was helping to dry her off, she started to get a bit fussy. I crouched down and got close to her and started talking, and she quickly calmed down. She's a real sweetie. I'm sure her eyes are blue.
After spending the few minutes bathing her, it was time for Stef to breast feed her. They curtain off the section and the men leave, so I took Kelsey out to get some food. The plan was to go eat and come back by 3 PM so that I could spend a half-hour with Mia before I had to head back to the train station to start the trek back to the island. I told Kelsey beforehand that we were going to get some chicken nuggets, and she was giddily talking to herself and me about how she was going to eat nuggets. The two of us rode the bike to McDonald's, where I got a couple 100 yen menu items (like the dollar menu in the U.S.) and Kelsey got her nuggets. Kelsey smiled the whole time as she tore little pieces off the nuggets and dipped them in barbecue sauce. In between bites, she enthusiastically pointed out features of the second floor of the restaurant, where we sat. It was really nice to have a little daddy-daughter date with her. I think I'll continue them when we get to Imabari.
We left McDonald's and biked back to the hospital, arriving at 3. When we got to the door of the NICU, I rang the bell to ask a nurse if she could watch Kelsey while I saw Mia. Stef was standing in sight, holding Mia. I lifted Kelsey up and explained that the baby that Mommy was holding was Mia. I'm still not sure if she really gets it, but she was pretty excited to announce that Mommy was seeing Mia.
When I put Kelsey down and tried to enter the NICU, I got bombarded by a doctor, who wanted to tell me that we should call the days before we want to bathe Mia ourselves. The nurse who had come to help didn't really watch Kelsey, so I had to chase Kelsey around while trying to end the conversation with the doctor. I told them that I had to leave for the island by 3:30, and that I really wanted to see Mia. The conversation continued until 3:20, and I was getting really upset that they wouldn't just leave me alone. All I wanted was to see my daughter for a few minutes before I left to be alone on the island all week. At 3:25, I finally got rid of the doctor, but it didn't leave me enough time to go in, since I'd have to wash my hands twice and get dressed in the plastic hospital poncho before entering.
I decided to go around the side and just look at Mia through the glass, since she's right up against it. When I got there, 8-10 nurses flipped out about how I wasn't in there with her. I frantically tried to communicate with gestures about how I had no time, and so I just wanted to see her for a minute, and that I wanted them to just leave me alone, but it was too late. Wanting to be helpful, they sent a doctor around to talk to me and ask me why I wasn't coming in. I quickly explained that I had to leave in 4 minutes, and that I just wanted to see her before I left. She said that she understood, but then started asking me questions about where we were going to live and how the TV interview went. At this point, I lost it. I gave short, monosyllabic (or at least the Japanese equivalent) answers and then stopped answering her questions altogether. She eventually got the drift and turned around. As she walked away, I apologized. I looked at Mia for about thirty seconds, and then I had to turn and leave.
I feel bad that I was short with the doctors, but I really wish they would have just left me alone. In their efforts to help, they robbed me of one of the few chances I get to see my daughter. It took a lot for me not to start sobbing. The stress of the situation got to me and I was short with Stef. She had had stresses of her own while waiting for me inside the NICU. In the end, I didn't even get to have a proper goodbye with her and Kelsey. No hugs. Nothing.
For most of the five hour trip home, I distracted myself by reading Orwell's 1984. I'm really enjoying it. Some of the parallels with modern government are spooky, to say the least.
Sigh. It's going to be a long week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)