by Jojie Garcia
On the afternoon of April 2, 2019, I got one of the best text messages I’ve ever received in my life.
“Rogo may go home today.”
Rogo (short for Andro Santiago) is my son who was born at 30 weeks on March 5, 2019 and spent the first few weeks of his life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Thankfully, apart from his early arrival, he didn’t present any other complications and was a healthy baby who just needed a little bit more time to grow. Our hospital’s “graduation weight” for preemies was 1.8kg— Rogo, born at 1.5 kg with a lot of ups and downs in between, finally hit the magic number. He was ready to go home.
The thing is, we weren’t. Eep!
Ate Alba & Rogo.
Apart from a couple of gifted baby clothes and old baby paraphernalia from our first-born, we really weren’t prepared for Rogo’s arrival yet. My husband Jeb and I took those NICU days one day at a time, and we made it a point not to look too far ahead and just focus on his daily progress. We eased into a routine of visiting Rogo a couple of hours every day all while still managing work, our home, and our first-born daughter’s needs. (The newly minted Ate Alba was 3 years old at the time.) I also had to recover from the abrupt birth. While we were hopeful that Rogo wouldn’t have to stay in the NICU for a long time, we were taken aback by the happy surprise that he was ready to finally join our family. I had to ask our doctor for another day just so we could get things in order.
We sprang into action. After a quick trip to the mall to get everything that we needed, we spent the eve of Rogo’s homecoming preparing for his arrival. The primary guiding thought in our head was “How can we replicate an ala-NICU care experience for our preemie child in our home?”, and these are the things that we made sure to cover.
· Everything must be squeaky clean. One thing that stood out to me on my daily visits to the NICU was how particular they are with cleanliness and disinfection. Preemie babies are very delicate — even the common flu can get them very sick because their immune system is still weak and developing. So, we cleaned our house extra thoroughly that night and set up sanitation stations in every room that had paper towels, baby wipes, and alcohol. This was to encourage our 3-year-old daughter to be mindful of staying clean too. Once our baby was home, we made sure to clean floors and surfaces regularly as well. (I am writing this during the pandemic, and looking back, having a preemie baby prepared us so much for this kind of crisis!)
Hospital gowns in Jojie’s house were at the ready for excited visitors.
· Visitors must be extra careful too! Prior to going home, I already asked the indulgence and understanding of family and friends who wanted to meet Rogo to give our new family of four some private time and space. This wasn’t only to help our family adjust to caring for a preemie newborn, but to keep Rogo safe from unexpected illnesses as well. But we were aware that we couldn’t keep him from excited Lolos and Lolas for long! So I chose to replicate a NICU practice too: at the NICU, visiting family members are required to sanitize their hands upon entering the nursery, and are given hospital gowns and slippers to wear in their stay. I asked the same of our visiting family and friends. After washing their hands, they had to wear a hospital gown over their clothes, slippers (those fuzzy freebies we get from hotel staycations), and a disposable hair cap. Thankfully, they understood our requests for them to be extra careful, and their eagerness to cuddle with Rogo outweighed any discomfort the outfit adjustments may have caused. (I bought six hospital gowns in total, two at a time were out, and they were in a regular wash rotation. We didn’t have many visitors anyway, but I was happy to be prepared.)
· Knowledge is power! What I did get to do on those long sleepless nights when I worried about my baby in the NICU was read up on preemies: what to expect, what red flags to watch out for, and what support groups I can go to for help. I also cherished the late-night conversations I had with mommy friends who also had preemies who told me about their experience in raising a preemie baby.
Rogo is ready to go home!
· Confidence is key! For me, the strongest component of NICU care that I witnessed was the expertise and kindness of the doctors and nurses who took care of Rogo. I knew that their expertise would be close to impossible to match, but in their kindness, they also gave me the best advice when I expressed my anxiety in bringing home a preemie baby: “Mommy, ikaw ang mommy niya, ikaw lang ang kailangan niya.” (You are his mom, and you are all he needs.) This affirmation really calmed my nerves and got me more open to taking their daily lessons and reminders about my son. Before his discharge, the hospital also required a “Babysavers” class that gave us a crash course on baby first aid and preemie care. Finally, they assured us that our pediatrician and the NICU will always be open for calls if we need assistance. All this upped our confidence that not only was our son ready to go home, but we are also now ready as a family to receive him too.
Less than 24 hours after that surprise text message, we were already rolling out Rogo in his baby bassinet, away from his first home and into our car. I was excited to spend whole days and weeks with this little baby who had already captured my heart in our hourly dates. Was it daunting? Absolutely. But we knew that we would always give our best to our little fighter who gave his best to survive too.
About the contributor
Jojie Perocho-Garcia has been an educator for 14 years now. She keeps her quarantine days busy with preschool and high school tutorials, reading, watching Kdramas, and being MamaJie to her husband Jeb and kids Alba (4yo) and Rogo (1yo). You may find her on Instagram and Facebook as @teachmomsy where she shares education tips, parenting reflections, and homeschooling highlights.
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