Our NICU Stay
Our NICU stay, was at first a scare,
Confident we felt, with our nurses there,
Through our ups and downs, they held our weak hands,
Bundled our preemies, and told us the plan.
Gia’s the guardian, of that front door,
Make sure to wash hands, don’t infect this floor,
In a fishbowl of glass, and always watching out,
For more than two at a time, making grandparents pout.
Whom does she root for? The Hawks or for Cy?
Cardinal and Gold’s my color, we found when we said bye,
We had our babies’ names picked, but what did we see,
Before we were even sure, the name plaques were three.
It began with chaos, sixteen in the room,
Making a place, where each girl cocooned,
Each day there was news, it wasn’t all bad,
But we needed help, both the mom and dad.
The NICU is hard, everyone will say,
Why is it so tough? No words can allay,
The worries of mothers and fathers,
Who just want the best for their daughters.
At the Mercy NICU, the best they will get,
Preemies get much help, parents don’t fret,
A walk down the hallway, shows their success,
Young lives saved, working with the best.
Let me introduce you, to our girls three,
Brielle, Teagan and Rianne, how proud can we be,
Brielle the cuddler, and we know for sure,
It was our nurses, giving a trait so pure.
Teagan was feisty, as we now know,
She would give presents. Oh, plug up your nose!
Rianne was biggest, but still needed air,
From the many angels, who guarded her care.
The first nurse I met, said come back in a while,
Wait half-hour at least, I couldn’t find a smile,
The preemies suffered, as needles went in,
PICC lines and more, tore through skin so thin.
Whence back I came, Dena I met,
Explained one and all, while working she kept,
Competent and caring, so sure with her skill,
Made Rianne feel better, try not to cry I will.
They are all doing fine, I wished to report back,
But so tiny and frail, kept me from saying that,
So many wires and tubes, hooked into the wall,
Why didn’t they cry, say anything at t’all?
When a child’s on a vent, not a sound can they make,
For you see they need help, with each breath they will take,
It will be okay, another nurse said to me,
Leeann was her name, and advice was my plea.
Appreciate two steps forward, because there will be one back,
Her eyes were sincere, I knew this was fact,
So daily we visited, for hours and hours,
When the green scrubbed nurse came, we could not feel dour.
It began with a vent, it’s so hard to see,
Our children can’t breathe, like you and me,
Then came bubble CPAP, and we rejoiced,
It’s a first little step, our tears came so moist.
What’s wrong with Brielle? She desatted again?
No not PDA! Indomethacin?
Her open duct closed, after the second dose,
Goodbye the surgeon, who stood watching close.
Thank goodness we said, our friends on the phone,
It’s good news again, could we leave her alone?
Then came infection, is it staph or strep?
Our nurses fixed that, thankfully we wept.
Is she in more danger? Yes, but we’ll keep her fed,
Save her life often, bring O2 to her bed.
Is this normal? Is this right?
How do we sleep through the night?
Yet progress we saw, in tiny small steps,
As our babies grew, one ounce then the next,
Is she down a liter or another percent?
Where’s the goldenrod sheet? Did they gain weight yet?
Each day two steps forward, and then another back,
Our nurses would say, they are right on track,
Sometimes it felt true, sometimes not so much,
They were in good hands, with a loving touch.
Poop we would welcome, with each diaper change,
Intestines are sound, they eat right on pace,
What about the crying, isn’t that a pain?
No, it means they’re breathing, we thank heaven the same!
The PICC line’s coming out! Oh my it’s so long,
That’s fine, that’s okay, they’re getting so strong,
Their room is clearing, IV poles are missing,
Another deep breath, another big blessing.
Our incubators are gone? Where did they go?
Are they getting better? Oh, please let me know!
They’ve moved to cribs, how can that be?
Didn’t we just get here? No, this is month three!
If they are in cribs, what is next we ask?
The room air challenge, that is their next task.
If they eat from the bottle, and breathe on their own,
We’ll write the papers, so they can go home.
No more transfusions? Not a PICC line?
Their retic count is high, they will be fine!
One at a time, they will go home,
Teague will go first, Ri dessated, Oh no!
Our room is now quiet, no alarms or bells,
No yellow light warns, or red panic toll knells,
We started thinking, how many have helped?
Get our girls to this point, it’s like a hundred we felt.
So many nights and days, away from their houses,
Our nurses would stay. Gosh, do they have spouses?
Kids of their own, they left for the floor,
To care for our preemies, could they give up any more?
At night we saw Patti, kids she had of her own,
Good advice she would give, and not let us get down,
Appreciate their progress, the glass is half-full,
I’ll take care of them now, that is no bull.
Okay, “bull” she wouldn’t say, but we knew for sure,
One look into her eyes, our girls behaved for her,
Overnight she worked, sacrifices she made,
That our family would prosper, while she stayed awake.
Sarah was another, a mom to-be herself,
So kind and caring, educating with a wealth,
Of knowledge we needed, to care for our three,
We pray and we hope, to term she will be.
Bre gave us strength, when much we did lack,
Ever finding the time, to watch our kid’s back.
Triplet kangaroo? Why don’t we try?
One by one did she place, the three girls so spry.
Pam was so able, to turn them just a bit,
It kept them from flailing, and having a fit,
What about Heidi? She was great too,
Helping us daily, with what we must do.
Lisa taught daddy, to wrap them up tight,
They’ll squirm and wiggle, if you don’t do it right,
Jana, Crystal and Aubrey, Amanda and Luann,
Tara, Jayme and Maureen, did we mention Pam?
Holly, Kelly and Kelley, and Lindsey’s there’s two,
Those were our nurses, to name just a few,
On their graduation page, a document we’ll frame,
It’s their first diploma! That will remind us the same.
All the caring nurses, in off-time came to see,
How our little girls did, just three little preemies,
Yes, there are so many, how can I even try,
To thank everyone, for all they’ve done nigh.
What about cookies, or a big cake!
That’s just some food, a short time will it take,
For it to be gone, our thanks must last longer than that,
How about a poem, that won’t fall flat.
Not a bad idea, write words just a few,
With all they have done, it’s the least we can do,
For all our girls have, is ‘cause they stayed true,
To their job of caring, for three girls they hardly knew.
How could we forgot, seven doctors who helped,
Keep our kids well, when they did yelp,
Each morning they rounded, and came for emergencies too,
When our girls needed, a plan for a boost.
Bhasvar was the first, doctor we met,
Came while Mindy’s on bed rest, told us what to expect,
Make it to twenty-eight, he and others told us,
Goodness how do we do that, do we tie her legs close?
When they were born, it was doctor Murphy,
Tying their belly buttons, to avoid the IV,
Who’s the doctor? He’s nice, he lives around us,
Works out at the Y, benching 200 plus.
Also on the team, were doctors Katz and Reinsvold,
With added support from Fong, Ellsbury, and Nold.
All great doctors with questions we would soon ask,
What’s twenty-seven cal? A concept I couldn’t grasp.
Give them more calories, it’s now tough to digest,
But grow they must, so we think it’s best,
What about ROP, what the heck’s that?
An eye disorder, that preemies combat.
Necrotizing enterocolitis and RDS,
One we avoided, the other created a mess,
IVH we ducked, anemia we did not,
We’ll take every blessing, deal with what we’ve got.
Don’t forget about Betty, with her careful charting,
So we don’t have to try, to read doctor’s writing,
She’s got the laptop, to type it all in,
But she knows each preemie, and can tell who is in.
Terri’s all smiles, each time we see her,
Helping us fill big forms, that kill trees by the acre,
She gives green cards, so we can eat free,
Four dollars, hey, that’s diapers thirty-three!
What about Erin? She kept their heads round,
And helps with the preemies, if extra hands can’t be found,
The ultrasound tech, gels up the kids’ hair,
Makes them look like rockers, from the 80’s era,
Respiratory therapists who place in and remove,
Long tubes and devices, that will definitely prove,
The kids are better, they need O2 much less,
Help them push forward, refuse to regress.
The ophthalmologist, her job is so tough,
As parents cringe, watching her not be rough,
It’s hard for a baby, to open eyes wide,
But to avoid ROP, keep the eye doc bedside.
The nutritionist put in, this number and that,
Makes sure they grow big, but not really fat,
Mix formula with, the breast milk made,
Just the right dose, for a healthy babe.
Prepare to depart, get out of our hair,
Our nurses will joke, but we feel despair,
Because NICU nurses, were so vital to us,
Our kids will miss them, throw arms up and fuss.
Brielle leaves Wednesday, we hope and pray,
Then Ri and Teague, will follow Friday,
To think of three losses, we could have had,
Bring warm tears of thanks, from this mom and dad.
