Helicopter Parents

Hello, we are the Armstrongs, and we are Helicopter Parents....
I prefer the term "unconditionally loving parents" but some would classify the constant questions, always looking for updates, sleeping in the rocking chair at his bedside, baby wipe baths because there is no way I'm leaving him long enough to shower every day, only leaving for potty breaks and 5 minute snacks, as a little bit of "hovering". No one can blame us, our child is in the NICU for goodness sake. He's such a little trooper. Every day I am amazed at how strong he is.

Being a NICU parent is hard. Duh. You picture yourself bringing home your baby after delivering and changing their diaper whenever, feeding them whenever they are hungry, learning their cues and their schedule, snuggling and cuddling them, playing with them, at your leisure. In the NICU I feel like I have to always double check with the nurses before I do something, if he's not sleeping I do everything in my power to get him back to sleep so that his little brain can grow, I've washed my hands so many times that they are dry and cracked, I'm paranoid about germs, I'm paranoid about everything that we talk to the Nurse Practitioner who's following him every day and would prefer that he just sit in his room and reassure me that everything is okay every 5 minutes (helicopter parents...)

Our little guy is a champ though. Mr. Ames Wilde is almost back up to his birth weight, he is 3 pounds 2 oz and has so much fuzzy blonde hair.

They have upped his feedings consistently over the past couple days, he's up to 25mL per feeding and based on a complicated calculation that I don't understand, his goal is to get to around 30mL per feeding. Almost there :) They are going to start fortifying my breast milk for his feedings starting tomorrow and that should help him bump up on the weight as well. They did a head ultrasound and there are no signs of brain bleeding which is fantastic.
He loves to be cuddled. He is most content when he is bundled up in a swaddle or when he is on Mommy or Daddy's chest. He sleeps so soundly during Kangaroo Care and it is our absolute favorite time of day.

He has had a couple spit up spells lately, the doctors and nurses aren't concerned as long as it isn't a large amount. So far, so good. I have to remember that he is a baby and that babies do spit up...(helicopter parents...lol)
You're feisty and so sweet all in one. If you're content you do not like to be bothered, diaper changes and temp checks are not your favorite. He loves listening to mommy and daddy's voices and boy he has been bright eyed these last few days. Probably one of the cutest things is when his eyes are open wide and he starts to smile and then goes cross eyed. I can't help but giggle every time because it is the cutest thing I've ever seen. In those moments it removes all of the stress of him being here and all I can think about is how much love I have for him. He loves to hold our fingers, especially when he gets flustered he reaches out and holds our finger and brings it in close to his face or chest and relaxes almost instantly. Talk about the worlds best feeling, the fact that we can soothe him is unlike anything I've ever felt before.

The days are starting to go by a little faster. We have a pretty solid schedule down:
wake up around 7:30 and get into his room before his 9am care. Assist with his 9am cares, diaper change, temp check, oral cares, just general comforting and getting him ready for his feeding. We read to him, sing to him, play music for him for a little bit and take care of any of the million things we have on our plate before his Noon cares. Around noon we do Kangaroo Care during his feeding and we usually stay there fore about 3 hours until his next feeding. Then we go have lunch and spend a little mommy and daddy time, generally talking about Ames, but still it's time outside of his room. We come back before his 3PM care and the other person does Kangaroo Care for 3 hours with him. We leave for dinner, back by his 9PM care and depending on how tired we are, another person holds him for Kangaroo Care and we leave to go to bed around midnight. Repeat

I think the reality of everything that is going on right now; being pseudo gypsies in the RV afer moving out of our apartment in a day (THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to our amazing family for doing all of that), in the process of buying a house, being a parent to a gorgeous little boy in the NICU- holy crap. I mean, any of those things is a lot, heck, why not do all 3??

I've said it before, but I am SO thankful for our family and friends support system. We could not make it through this without every single one of you and we are forever thankful for all of you and everything you've done.