Hi ho hi ho its off to work I go.

So since not much is happening in our lives, I'll tell you about my job. I love my job! When I think about my job I get little tingles of happiness inside! I'm a nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. That's a mouthful, so we call it the NICU. We take care of newborns premature, term and late term and everything in-between. We see tiny little 450 gram 24 weekers. Now 450g in poundage weighs about...Well, There are 2.2 pounds in a kilogram. There are 1000 grams in a kilogram. So 1000 g in 2.2 lbs..... 450 g is SMALL!! And we see 15 lb late termers. We mostly see sick near term kids 34-41 weeks. People always say "I dont know how you do that?" but I'll let you in on a little secret: Most of our kids do just fine. We do get tiny little premies and sick term kids that have really hard roads ahead of them or some that never make that road. But, Luckily, a majority do very well.

Viability is something you hear a lot about in the NICU. Viability is at what point an infant can be saved. It doesnt mean the infant will do well, mind you. Viability is 23 weeks. That is VERY early. 17 weeks early, 4 months! Thats delivering at 6 months pregnant. Babys generally do not do well at that point. Their are so early their eyes are still fused, their lungs are under developed and the blood vessels in the brain are very delicate. Thats not to say that there have been miracles! I've seen them. Medicine advances every day. The best time to have a premature infant is after 30 weeks. At that point the blood vessels in their brains are generally much tougher. Though, they usually still require support, mostly respiratory wise. I love 32 weekers. They are little and skinny and they usually need a little respiratory support but they are mainly in the NICU to get big and learn to eat. Its amazing how much a week makes. They are amazing, these little beings. You watch them go from tiny and pink with see-through skin, their muscles are so weak they can't bring their arms to their chest but they will fight! And when they go home to be "real babies" not patients its wonderful!!

well, thats it in a nut shell. a very big nut shell.