Perks of Being a NICU Mom

Caroline is still in the hospital. They are planning to move her to the pediatrics ward instead of the NICU which is good. It means she is stable enough to not need "intensive care." But it will still be a while before she can come home. She's doing really well but is just too tiny to be able to eat enough on her own. She gets so tired from eating because of her size that she can't stay awake long enough to eat all she needs to. And until she doesn't need a feeding tube anymore, she needs to stay at the hospital.

With that being said, there are some advantages to having Caroline in the hospital. By no means should this post be taken as me saying I would rather have Caroline in the NICU than home. I want her home SO BAD. (But I also want her home when she's ready for it.) This situation we're in is not ideal and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. But since I can't do anything to change the situation (besides visit Caroline and do my best to feed her and love her), it's nice to look on the bright side. So here is my list of perks of being a NICU Mom:

* I only have to get up once in the middle of the night to pump instead of million times to feed a crying baby.
* I got to skip out on the 5 weeks of bed rest I thought I was going to have.
* I still get to go out and do things because I don't have to tote a tiny baby around.
* Gestational Diabetes is OVER - why hello candy bars, I've missed you!
* I didn't have to worry about trying to feed/care for a new born the day after Caroline was born while I was sick out of my mind from the blood pressure medicine.
* Ryan and I only have to change diapers 2 times a day instead of 50 or so.
* Having Caroline hooked up to monitors all the time reassures me that she is okay.
* Professional nurses are taking care of her around the clock.
* Multiple meetings with lactation specialists to help me learn to breastfeed.
* A doctor (as opposed to her nurses) checks out everything daily and we get a daily call with Caroline's update.
* I get to be a part of the NICU Parent Activities they have at the hospital.
* Insurance is paying for a hospital-grade breast pump while Caroline is in the hospital.
* It doesn't matter that Caroline came before her nursery and everything was ready for her.
* If I don't pump exactly every 3 hours, it doesn't matter as opposed to needing to feed a baby on the baby's schedule.

And the best perk of all:
* Ryan and I are going to die when we are going to die (a LONG time from now), but this way we get to be parents 5 extra weeks of our lives.

****correction**** Even though Caroline is on the pediatrics floor of the hospital, she is still under the umbrella of NICU. They are working of remodeling the NICU and so they are using some of the pediatrics rooms as NICU overflow. It's still for the more stable babies, but it's still NICU.