Bracelet be gone!

For the past 100 days, I've worn my hospital ID bracelet that identifies me as a NICU parent.  It gives me access to the NICU and the hospital in general after hours. After about three weeks, it started looking ratty enough that I asked the nurses if I could get a new one.  At that point, they told me they knew who I was so I didn't need to wear it all the time, and that I could just carry it with me in my purse when I needed to get past the security at night.  I refused to take it off.  My mantra was that I would not take it off until it fell off on its own or until Cayden came home.  About two months in, Virginia, one of the lactation consultants, saw it on my wrist and threatened to cut it off of me because it was so gnarly looking.  The ink had run, the plastic was cracking, and I'm not sure, but there may have been some pretty orange mold growing on the paper inside the plastic.  Still, I would not take it off.  Call me crazy, but I had come to associate my hanging onto that bracelet with Cayden hanging onto life.


Well, as of Friday, Virginia won't have to worry any more.  I rolled out of bed that morning and as I was throwing the covers up over the pillows, there it was.  Detached.  Separated.  Free.

I may be imagining things, but now that the bracelet has fallen off, it seems that Cayden is picking up steam in his feeding progress.  He is consistently nippling more and more.  Today, there was talk about the things we (as parents) need to complete before he can be discharged, like CPR training.  All of a sudden, it feels like the end of this long marathon may be closer than I dared hope.  I should have cut that damn thing off months ago!

And now for the weekend weight update:
Friday night: 6 lbs. 12.4 oz.
Saturday night:  6 lbs. 12.8 oz.
Sunday night:  6 lbs. 13.5 oz.
He's going to weigh 7 pounds before we know it!