The First Sunday

As part of Nathan's discharge orders from the NICU, they recommended that we not take him take him anywhere for at least 3 to 6 months.  And Dr. Cornish agreed.  So that meant no taking Nathan to church until at least the end of April -- at the earliest!

To compromise, we decided that we would take turns going to church, trading off every other week.  Either by some luck of the draw or through my benevolence, I got to spend the first Sunday home with Nathan, while Bekah went to Church.  It was the first time either of us had been alone with Nathan for an extended period of time.

And for the most part, Nathan and I fared quite well.  We played a little.  I fed him lunch.  I made sure to give him his meds.  In general we had a pretty good time.

The only rough spot in the day came when Nathan had a dirty diaper.  And oh man was it a dirty, dirty diaper!  Quite full, quite messy, and very, very stinky! Luckily, I managed to change it without incident!  But it was close.  My gag reflex was on Alert Level Orange!  Nonetheless, I was quite proud of myself.

You could probably say that I was on an emotional high after successfully changing such a nasty diaper.  And it's possible that it went to my head.  Because in my zeal to be a good father, I decided that I would be proactive in Nathan's care and suck out his nose, since it had been very stuffy.

And that's where my mistake was!

Just as soon as I had put the bulb syringe into his nose and it made the first slurpy-sucky sound, I knew I was in trouble.  My gag reflex immediately shot up to Alert Level Red!  Then the accompanying slimy boogers just about sealed the deal.  My gag reflex was now on Threat Level Red, capable of reaching the tipping point at any moment.

I quickly applied my Zen Deep Breathing Techniques along with my Gag Restraint Tiger Growling Techniques in an attempt to curb the tide and lower the Threat Level.  Thankfully, it worked.

But I was a changed man after that.  I've never been able to look at a bulb syringe the same.