Our days look a little different than most new parents. At the beginning we were in a multiperson room and did not get to do much contact time until he was stable. After a week, we moved to a private room and started working towards the schedule we have now. Every day, Mom and Dad come in to see Chester. Colorado has a wonderful new law where as part of state wide parental bonding leave for 12 weeks, NICU parents can get an additional 12 weeks. This was brand new in 2026 and only in Colorado. At the hospital, we try to give Chester as much rest time as possible. This means he has care times where any hands on contract occurs. The normal cares are wiping his eyes and mouth, taking his temprature, changing his position of his blood oxygen monitor, and changing his diaper. These care times are also when any blood draws or tests are done as best as possible. This is very rare now. During care times, one parent does a task while the other offers contaiment. This helps him feel like he is still in the womb and calmer. After the first week mom and dad got to hold Chester skin to skin in what is called kangaroo care. It started as upto every other day for an hour. Now we get to hold him everyday for 3 hours. Every 4 days Chester gets a bath. It is more of a sponge bath but he does get is hair fully washed and rinsed. Chester has an amazing care team. He has a nurse who changes everyday that looks after him and one other baby. He is under constant care and monitoring. Everyday, his doctor, nurse practitioner, and nutritionist come and discuss his care plan for the day in rounds. Mom and Dad get to listen in, advocate for certain treatments (ie ask if he can move to less intense ventilator ect), and ask as many questions as they would like. As he continues to grow, his days will continue to evolve.
