At The Hospital

The First 48 Hours

Some of you have asked how things went in the hospital, so we thought we would give the details here. The delivery went well, but Dakota gave us a little scare and our stay was extended for several days. His heart rate kept dropping during the delivery so NICU was called in just in case. He wasn't letting out the loud newborn cry so after holding him for about 3 minutes they took him to the nursery to check him out.

When I finally got to see him again, I fed him and he started choking. The nurse came in at just the right time and suctioned his mouth. She wanted to be sure he was okay so she took him back to the nursery. He had to have oxygen and they noticed his blood sugar had dropped. They had to keep him to monitor his levels, take a chest x-ray - that came back OK - and we didn't even see him again until about 4:30 in the morning. It was so hard not getting to hold him much. I think I just sat and held him for an hour just staring at him when he finally came to the room.

The next night he spit up blood and stuff from the birth so they kept him for one of his feedings. Then Saturday he had his circumcision. We were all prepared to go home when the pediatrician came in to tell us the circumcision went well but he was very jaundice. She wanted to put him under the lights for 24 hours. I was devastated because I was getting discharged and thought I would be going home without my baby. Luckily the hospital gives a 48 hour courtesy stay! We got to go into the nursery and hang out with Dakota while he "suntanned." They brought him to the room to eat but I only had 30 minutes to feed him. That was stressful!

Saturday Night & N.I.C.U

Saturday evening we got another scare! He spit up "green stuff." They were unsure of what it was so they did x-rays and lavaged his stomach. They thought it might be bile but the x-rays on his stomach, liver, and kidneys came back clear and there was no blockage. Sunday the pediatrician came back in and said she wanted to have an upper GI test done to find out what the "green stuff" was but that had to be done in NICU. So off to NICU we went. The doctor in NICU didn't think he needed the GI test since the X-rays came back clear. Each time we entered we would scrub for 3 minutes. We only had certain times that we could actually touch him.

The poor little guy had wires and tubes all over. It looked really sad but we knew it wasn't that bad. All the tests were fine and the doctors were just being extra cautious we felt. The neonatologist ordered another blood culture, so he "bought himself 48 more hours" - as the nurse put it. They also started him on antibiotics because his CRP level was a little high, indicating possible inflammation.

Getting All Better

Seeing him every chance we could, we would go down every 3 or so hours to see him and take him his milk. Around 4:00 am Monday morning, Joby took his milk down and was actually able to hold him for 45 minutes - the longest he had gotten to hold him by far. Around 8:00 am I was able to hold him for close to an hour...the longest I had gotten to up to that point. He did great over night, had his tube taken out of his mouth, and I was able to resume breast feeding! We continued going down every 2-3 hours and was able to sit with him for a while. He improved much of that day and things were looking up. We often said that we would feel guilty sitting down there with our beautiful, healthy little boy. So many babies in NICU had problems, were premature, and their parents weren't able to hold them....how fortunate we were.

Tuesday morning we went down and heard the good news. They said everything looked great and we could leave that afternoon if the blood cultures came back OK - which they did. Not before one last issue though. His nurse said that before she gave him his last dose of antibiotic, his IV wouldn't flush. She tried to get it and said he just looked up at her one last time with that grin of his - as if to say "I have to give you one more fit". All the nurses raved about his smile and his hair.