Your unofficial Denver Children's NICU tour

This is the camper, out in parking lot 10... a nice little walk from the hospital, especially when it's 39 degrees out!A view of the hospital from the camperA view of the hospital from the frontThe boys call this elevator the "rocket ship"- it's all glass and it goes WAY too fast!This is a view of the "Boettcher Atrium", inside the main entrance of the hospital, from the 4th floor, where the NICU isThe boys really like this butterfly picture, Noah likes to count the butterfliesThe entrance to the NICU waiting roomJust inside the door of the NICUThis is the NICU milk bank. They have a really great system for handling the breastmilk that moms pump. I think their freezer is probably half full just of my milk, since I just keep adding and none is getting used...The entrance to the room where we go to eat. This is one of two kitchen areas in the NICU; when I'm alone, this is the one I eat in, just because our food is all in it, but when my mom and the boys are here, we usually eat in the other one because it's a lot quieter.The eating area in the Family Lounge. There is also a couch and some comfy chairs, and a TV and DVD player in this room. Mostly the families who have babies in the pinwheels hang out in here. I just go in here to eat, since we aren't allowed to eat in Faith's room.This is the door to Faith's room. She doesn't have her name on her door yet... we need to fix that. The sign on her door is to remind people to shut the door at night- the only ones who consistently do this are the surgeons. The nurse's station is directly to the left of our door, between our door and the door of the private room next to us. I've never actually asked, but I'm pretty sure there is one nurse for two babies- so our nurse takes care of Faith, and then the little boy who's our next door neighbor.
This is the inside of Faith's room. There is a sink to the left (you can't see it) where we scrub our hands when we come into the room... my hands are so chapped now that they bleed! I've been using the lanolin the lactation people gave me for my nipples on my hands instead... The door goes to our own private bathroom. There is a recliner and a couch, and the couch pulls out into a full-size bed. There's a curtain that pulls across in front of the bed for privacy, and the nurse also brought me a privacy screen on wheels the other day that I pull out when I'm pumping.

There's also a closet/cabinet to the right when you go into the room, and plenty of other cupboards and a couple of drawers under the couch that we are using for storage. We have our own TV and VCR/DVD player, too. We are very lucky and blessed to have a private room right from the start... most people start out in a pinwheel and get to move into a private room later, but it just happened to be that someone left right as Faith came, so we got right into this room.This is Faith's area of the room... all her tubes and wires and monitors... The red sign hanging on the side of her bed is to remind people to actually tell me who they are and what they're here for... but no one sees it there so I think I'm going to put it on the door, too. I can't wait for the ventilator to be out of the room (that's the machine in the left corner of the picture) because it takes up lots of space.A closer-up view of Faith's bed and all of her stuff. The blue sign hanging under her name sign on the bed tells how to pronounce our last name, but no one looks at it, because they still all say it wrong.

I think this is the most amazing NICU ever... they have done such a good job designing a place that can be comfortable for parents as well as provide the best possible care for the babies. The floors and ceilings are all made from materials that absorb sound, so it is much quieter than the NICU Nathan was in at the old Children's downtown. We really only hear other babies' alarms if our door is open. There is also an area next to the Family Lounge where there are two sleep rooms for parents whose babies are in the pinwheels, and two bathrooms with showers for us to use; and in the other Family Lounge where my mom and I usually take the boys to eat, there is a washer and dryer. So they've really made it so that you could essentially stay here without ever having to leave the NICU. I am so thankful that we've had the opportunity to be at such a great hospital!