What’s Best for Baby: An “Insider’s” Perspective on the NICU

“It’s a boy!”

After nine months of waiting to find out if our third child was a boy or a girl, we finally knew. I smiled at my wife after our son, Rowan, was born on Sept. 28 at Silver Cross Hospital. All three of our kids were born via c-section. So, we knew going in what to expect. Or at least we thought we knew.

After Dr. Esmond Yen, OB/GYN, from Premier Suburban Medical Group, held up Rowan for the first time, he gave him to the nurses who began the regular process of checking him out. Cleaning him off, weighing him, doing his APGAR score. All normal processes after a baby is born. I was expecting to get to hold him shortly just like I held our other two kids. I had brought my phone into the operating room so we could take a picture of the three of us.

Instead, I saw them very quickly put an oxygen mask on his face.

That was new.    

Something Wasn't Right

It wasn’t long before Jessica and I knew something wasn’t right. He cried a little bit after he was born, but he was very quiet after that. I counted at least four nurses working on him. Clearing his nose and trying to help him breathe.

“Is he ok?” I asked. At this point he was in the incubator in the operating room, and I saw his tiny body was sucking in as much air as he could while his arms and legs were very still. While that was going on, a nurse got on a phone and called a neonatologist. All I remember her saying is, “He’s having some trouble transitioning.”

I looked at my wife, and we both started to cry…and pray. I got on my phone and texted as many people as I could to ask them to pray, too. When Dr. Athena Patrianakos-Hoobler, Lurie Children’s Hospital neonatologist, got there I didn’t know how much time had passed. It felt like both an hour and only one minute had gone by.

She explained to us that Rowan’s lungs weren’t fully developed, which was causing the labored breathing, so he would be heading to the NICU at Silver Cross.

Working in the marketing department at the hospital, I was very familiar with the new Amy, Matthew, and Jay Vana Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I had spent a lot of time over the summer filming the area and taking photos during construction. I remember thinking right before it opened in August of last year, “I’m glad this is here, but I hope we don’t have to experience it firsthand.”

Full disclosure, although I work at a hospital, I’m not at all an expert on when NICU-level care is needed. I went into it thinking it was mainly for premature babies. My son was born at 37 weeks and 6 days. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces, and was 20 inches long. Hardly a preemie.

For Newborns Who Need Special Care

But as Dr. Corryn Greenwood, medical director of the NICU, explained to me later, they are for all newborns who need specialized care. While Rowan was considered full-term, his lungs were premature.

"Although prematurity is one of the most common reasons for babies to be admitted to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), we do admit full-term infants who need our help as well,” Dr. Greenwood. “Sometimes full-term babies who are born via Cesarean section need help with breathing or oxygen after birth. Our experienced team is always ready to support babies in need."

They started Rowan off on a bubble CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine to make sure his oxygen levels stayed up over 90 percent. He improved quickly and was moved off the CPAP within a couple of days. When it was time for Jessica to be discharged, he was on regular room air, but still had to have IV fluids and a feeding tube.

One of the hardest things I’ve ever done was get in the car that Saturday, three days after he was born, and leave without taking him home. No big greeting with family. No family picture with our two older kids. Just my wife and I driving home with an empty baby car seat in the back of our minivan.

Our saving grace was the nurses who cared for him. My wife and I visited him every day for the week he spent there. Every night after we got home, we would call right before bed and check on him. And every morning when we got up, we called to see how his night went.

Angels in Scrubs

The nurses were unbelievably gracious, kind, informative, caring, and every other positive adjective you can think of. They never rushed us off the phone; they gave detailed information on his breathing, how much he was eating, and anything else we could think of to ask.

Two nurses in particular who cared for Rowan the longest were Kathy Choate and Nancy Natick. Kathy was Rowan’s first nurse and took care of him for three days. Nancy cared for him the other four. We also had several other nurses who watched over him on the overnight shifts.

Both Kathy and Nancy were the kindest people I’ve ever met. They spent a significant amount of time with us when we were visiting Rowan, answering any question we had about his progress, the milestones he had to meet to come home, and even talking about their families. As cliché as it sounds, I’m convinced NICU nurses are angels in scrubs!

I can’t forget the incredible care we saw Rowan receive from the Lurie Children’s neonatologists. Whenever we were there for rounding in the morning, they almost always came to our room early. Drs. Cristina Baumker and Mario Sanchez were two who also took time to tell us about the plan they had for Rowan that day.

Not a single caregiver ever made us feel rushed when we asked them questions. They were patient and took their time to explain everything clearly. It was reassuring in more ways than one for both Jessica and me.

I know a lot of families don’t have as quick of a stay as we did. Seven days seemed like forever to us, and I can’t imagine how difficult it is for families who have to wait weeks and weeks before they can bring their new babies home. But the neonatologists and nurses at the Silver Cross NICU are truly a blessing during one of the most difficult challenges parents face.

Amy, Matthew & Jay Vana Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Adjacent to our Women and Infant Services Birthing Center, the Amy, Matthew & Jay Vana Neonatal Intensive Care Unit features 24 private, single-family rooms. Modeled after the NICU of Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and boasts the very latest technology to care for infants born before 30 weeks’ gestational age; born with birth defects, infections, breathing difficulties or other high-risk conditions; or born at other nearby hospitals who need highly specialized care. Other features include private consultation room for parents to meet with specialists; centralized nurses station with high-tech monitoring plus workstations outside patient rooms; family lounge; and family transition room before baby goes home.