Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie

Today was the second day of my week long hospital pharmacy rotation. As of yesterday I wasn't too fond of the hospital setting because: a) besides doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, everyone you see is either sick or visiting a sick person, b) I'm almost positive they keep the temperature at 30 below zero, and c) the pace in the hospital pharmacy seemed slower than Christmas, which means the day passes by even slower. This morning, however, I was sent on rounds with the hospital's pediatric pharmacist. Four words and I was giddy about the day ahead: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Walking through the NICU for the first time was breathtaking. To be surrounded by living, breathing beings that can fit in the palm of your hand is nothing short of a miracle. When I say fit in the palm of your hand, I really mean it. They are tiny. Today I met a 3 day old baby girl weighing .51kg, equivalent to 1.12 lbs. She was born at 24 weeks, approximately 16 weeks premature. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She slept so peacefully, yet I know that her organs were laboring intensely inside her small frame in order to keep her alive. I watched the ventilator fill her lungs with air and couldn't help but wonder if she knew that she was already in the world.

For most of the day I rounded the NICU as the pharmacist's shadow while she calculated TPN's (Total Parenteral Nutrition, for feeding intravenously) for nearly 16 premies, something essential for their growth, development, and general health. While she calculated, I watched. I watched her, but mostly I was watching the babies, reading their charts and converting their weight from kilograms to pounds in my head-- stunned everytime at just how small they are. Today I never once saw a baby weighing more than 3 lbs., but I saw a ton of "mini" everything-- mini diapers, mini bottles, mini IV's, and plenty of mini hands and feet.

Referring back to my cons of the hospital setting: Even though a) the babies are fundamentally sick, b) it felt like thirty below zero, and c) the pace was much slower, I fell in love with every itsy bitsy teenie weenie baby in the Neonatal Unit! I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14 Those babies are just that. Fearfully and wonderfully made.