They moved her into a recovery room. She shared it with another mother...I can't remember her name but she was sweet and we knew she was going through the same thing that Breanne was. Maybe they could comfort each other somehow. The doctor came in and told us the horrible truth behind what Garrison was up against. He could have a brain bleed at any moment which could cause him a great deal of damage. Even a small bleed could damage his brain and have life long repercussions. They were doing research on bleeds in preemies so they asked if Garrison could be part of it. Breanne agreed after being reassured there was no pain in it. They just did extra scans of his brain each day to study it. Extra care couldn't hurt right??
For the first week, Garrison was on minimal stimulation. He could only be touched by the nurses and even they didn't touch him unless absolutely necessary. He was hooked up to all kinds of tubes...laying in an open bed covered in plastic wrap. The plastic wrap kept him warm. Remember his skin was only three cells thick at this time. He had a light on him to help keep him from being jaundice. To protect his eyes from the light...although fused together...he had on a tiny blindfold. He had on a little crochet hat that they said little elderly women make for the preemies to wear. It was cute! He only wore a cotton ball over him to catch the urine because a diaper would be to much contact with his thin skin. It was a horrible
sight. I don't think I got to see him until the next week. They only let the parents and grandparents in for the first week. They would bring out pictures and video with them and we would gather around in the waiting room to see our little man. Breanne had told us that she would not be leaving him while he was in the hospital and we knew not to argue. We didn't want to leave him either. He would be in the hospital at least three to four months before he could go home. She had to stay in the hospital for two days, I think. We weren't allowed to spend the night with her for some reason. I was not happy about leaving her.
The day her roommate was being released, she was telling us about her little girl and how she was doing. I asked what she had named her. She told me her name and Breanne and I both looked at each other...she had the name Manning. Breanne had thought the name sounded good with Garrison before but hearing it again she said..."I guess his middle name is supposed to be Manning." She was struggling with his name which is way too long a story to tell here but she had her answer that day. Garrison Manning...he had a name!
We camped out in the UAMS waiting room from morning to night...we got there when it opened and left when it closed. We were usually the only ones in there. Most of the parents lived too far away or couldn't afford to stay with their children. That broke my heart. If they would have let me, I would have visited every one of the babies everyday and sang to them as they lay there fighting for their lives. You aren't allowed to be near the babies unless you're family...totally understandable! I know the nurses talked to them...I would hear them when I was in there. Saying sweet things to them with a tone that made me want to cry.
We stayed with my aunt who lives in Little Rock...and by that, I mean, we slept there. I know that part of the reason God moved her to Little Rock was because of those seven weeks. She and Terri were so amazing! They would come and bring us snacks while we
waited all day at the hospital and gave up there beds for us. We didn't stay there the whole
time but more on that later.
There are several parts of this story that are move vivid in my mind than others. This is one of them. It was the second week. I was in the nicu with Breanne and we were just sitting there staring at him. He was so tiny and fragile. The nurse asked Breanne if she wanted to touch him. He had been taken off of minimal stimulation. Finally, the first moment of physical contact with her little boy...a week later after he had left her body. Tears are coming as I think of how she must have felt in that moment. She held his little hand...he instinctively grabbed hold of her finger...mother and baby have there first sweet moment together.
this is Garrison's second week...I didn't think it was a good idea to post a picture of his first week. I'll just say, as pitiful as he looks in these, there was much improvement from the first.
breanne holding her hand out to show how small he is...she has very small hands so you can only imagine.
one of his diapers...he started wearing them the second week...the same size as a juice cup. :-)
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