Floor 3: Maternal Infant Unit

This is it.

The moment we’ve been waiting for.

We were in M’s maternity room and the nurses wheeled in a tiny little babe that was just about to have her first bottle. They showed us where the necessities were, handed me the bottle, and left the room.

And then it was us.

I scooped up that tiny little squish and held her close to my chest. Travis and I stared at each other in complete and utter disbelief. This was happening. This was our reality. In this moment. We stared at baby, completely and utterly smitten.

We spent the rest of the day in the room with M and baby girl. We talked. We laughed. She rested and slept. We stared at baby and never set her down. Travis fed baby girl a bottle and instantly got her to burp. He confidently responded with “I just have the touch!”. To which, I replied with “I will remember that at 3am…”. M laughed and she reminded Trav that we thought he “has the touch” any time baby girl fussed.

When we noticed baby girl’s extremely long finger nails, she told us she’d show us how to trim them. Travis held baby while M showed me how it’s done. Then she coached me while I tried her other hand. One of the incredible moments of love at its most finest. Where the four us were together, loving on baby girl and each other.

When night fell, it was time for us to leave. M assured us that she would check on baby in the nursery while we were away and call us if anything came up. So, we wheeled baby to the nursery, kissed her goodnight, and made our way to a hotel. It was heart wrenching.

M was hoping to be discharged from the hospital early the next day so we headed back first thing in the morning to spend some more time together. The nurses mentioned that the M would likely not be discharged until that evening when her doctor would be around. So we settled in for another day together. We each took turns going on walks, getting food, and snuggling with babe. In a twist of events, M was promptly discharged after lunch.

We weren’t ready. We thought we had more time together. In order to discharge, they sent us with baby to the nursery so we needed to say goodbye right then and there.

I hugged her. She told me to send any cute pictures and call or text if we needed help or had any questions with anything since she doesn’t live far.

And we were ushered away. Our hearts were cracking.

It would be just the three of us for the rest of our time in the hospital. We would be wrestling with our emotions and caring for babe for another 30ish hours before a decision would be made. We hunkered down, managed life with a newborn trapped in a tiny office (read: closet), and then a classroom.

We spent as many hours as possible with baby. We held her. We told her she was loved. We kissed her sweet, chubby cheeks, and gave her every ounce of love we had.

And before we knew it, it was the time that M would be meeting with the social worker and attorney to make her decision...