*there's picky parents

Chris and I are picky about some things like most people. He only likes certain sandwich breads and I am particular about pillows and chicken salad. I'm adding Nurse Snobs to our lists.

Being in a regular hospital unit with Will is new to us. He was an intensive care patient for 3 months so we really only know how they do things there. We are still learning the differences in that unit and this one. The patients here aren't as sick and are always on their way home. Families need to demonstrate that they can take care of things without help. I try to remind myself that the care is similar to what I had in my postpartum room. I don't mind doing more for Will but am needing to be reprogrammed. Twice this week Will has been fed an hour late because in the NICU the nurse would've brought his milk to me at the designated time. Here I mix the milk and formula myself, store it in the refrigerator in his room, prepare the bottles and use the feeding pump next to his crib when needed. Oh yes and remember to feed him.

Those are all things I can get used to. What I miss are our favorite nurses!! The nurses here are fine. They know what they are doing and they do a good job. They help me with things when I ask. But they just aren't OUR nurses. Millie and Derenda became our friends and unfortunately now our standards are so high they might be unattainable. Millie pays attention to every detail. Derenda answers any question under the sun. And both of them love Will so much. They have each come to his room to visit this week.

Having favorite nurses has it's downsides. They can't be at work every day. Another NICU mom, Melanie, reminded me that when you have 24 hour care, not every staff person is going to be great. That's true. Luckily I only felt the need to complain about one nurse during our NICU time. And I actually didn't complain, I just requested we not be assigned to her again. I teased our favorites that we wanted them to work 24 hrs a day (with an occasional bathroom break of course) so we wouldn't have to meet any new nurses. This week I've considered forgetting about the nurses altogether and just going about our day. But that is difficult when I've seen how great it can be. We miss our nurses.

I was sharing this wish with a friend today who offered to pray specifically that we find some nurses that are a good fit for us on this floor. When it was time for the evening shift the prayer was answered!! (Thanks Noelle!) We like this nurse! We won't always mesh with the personalities we encounter, but when we do it changes everything. This one has admired Will like all nurses do, but she also has tried to get to know us. It's just a good fit.

I will point out some other good things about this unit. On the NICU floor I got a meal voucher for the cafe as a breastfeeding mother. Wonderful to have but the selection was limited. Here I actually get room service! I have a whole menu to choose from and it is brought right to me. And in the few short days we've been here volunteers have: informed me when the play room is open if I want to get toys, said I can help myself to treats from the care cart (hand sanitizer, etc), offered a book from the book cart, and best of all - come to Will's room to sing and play guitar. It was the sweetest Twinkle, Twinkle and Itsy Bitsy Spider I've ever heard.

One department in which Chris and I are not picky is family dinner night. Every now and then dinner is served in the Ronald McDonald room for hospital families. It's convenient, we don't have to decide where to eat and we don't have to spend a dime. We enjoy it no matter what they are serving and the people that serve the food are fun. I hope we make the time to help with that some day because it would really be missed if it stopped.

As for Will's week here, we should find out something soon. We suspect he will be discharged since the spells he has seem to be reflux/feeding related rather than complications of TOF.

Correction: Will actually weighs 8 lbs, 9 oz, not 9 lbs as previously stated. I'm blaming our confusion on the metric system.