The Kirk's - Boys-R-Us!

Chasing Around My Newborn!


3rd Day of Life - 3rd Hospital!!!

Pierce getting some much needed rest down at Northside NICU

So Thursday we had to run a few errands and then we decided we would go down and see Pierce while he was waiting to be transferred from Northside to Egleston. Originally they told us he was on the list for a morning transfer but that since he was so stable that he would be bumped should there be a child with more pressing health issues that needed the transport vehicle - so around 11:00 they called and said he would be transferred out by 2:30 so we packed up and headed down. We had Kaiden with us which meant one parent could go in and be with Pierce while the other parent got to hang out with Kaiden. Daddy let me go in first and I got to meet his daytime nurse who was just awesome (everyone we have dealt with has been amazing!) and I got to change his diaper and love on him, then after 30 or so minutes I went out so that Dave could have a few minutes with him before they came for him. While Dave was in there, the transport team called and said it would be at least another hour to two before they would get there and Dave and I decided we would grab a bite to eat and then meet them down at Egleston.


Welcome to the World of Children's!!!
Hopefully most of you have never had to have first hand experience with a place like Children's (because that means you have healthy babies) but I Thank God for it!!!! This place is AMAZING!! I really think the best way to describe it, is kind of like a really cool kids museum, that happens to do surgery and treat cancer! Everyone there (and I mean EVERYONE) from custodial staff to the chief of medicine is SO friendly and patient and kind - truly amazing people.

On that note I would like to take just a moment to inform everyone that Children's (these hospitals are everywhere) does operate on donations - everything from monetary donations but also clothing, toys, books, bouncy seats, swings, everything. I just wanted to let everyone know as you go through your kids closet to pack up winter clothes or clean out the garage from last years toys, if you have anything you are thinking of getting rid of PLEASE consider donating to your local Children's hospital.

Getting Settled In
Dave, Kaiden and I were hanging out down in their very large waiting room, which has all kinds of cool furniture and at least a dozen TVs, that were all low to the ground and Kaiden was having a blast running from one to the next. Once we had given over all our information and signed a bunch of forms they told us where we could go to see Pierce. Of course we were thoroughly confused because they told us to go to the second floor, and that Pierce was in NICU B but then went on to give us a private room number - very strange. I thought all NICU's were just large rooms with a bunch of cradle stations and tons of nurses and monitors - we were wrong. Dave and Kaiden found a cool little kitchen area with a TV/DVD player, an ice & water machine, plus it had a small table and chairs just Kaiden's size, they were set and I went to find my baby.

When I got in to Pierce's the nurses were just getting him settled into his bed, they were getting him hooked up to his monitors and entering info into a computer. They explained that he was on IV nutrients but that once they confirmed the status of his diaphragmatic hernia and could increase his oral feeds then they would decrease the IV nutrients. The only other thing he was hooked up to was a heart rate monitor, a pulse ox monitor and a respiration monitor, they explained how the leads may move slightly but that will make the alarms go off and then they showed us how to silence them, that was a GREAT thing to learn.