Six Days

After baby boy was born we were obviously elated.  After getting over the initial shock that I actually just gave birth to our baby boy-our rainbow baby, our miracle-we enjoyed every moment of being together.  Having him be born at 7:34 pm was kind of nice!  Yes, it got to be kind of a late night, but it was perfect. He was born and checked over and then we did skin to skin for about two hours.  It was incredible being able to snuggle a brand new baby again, MY brand new baby and not have to worry about any interruptions; this was a moment we had waited for, for so long!

They took all of his measurements and told me he weighed 5 lbs. 13 oz and I couldn’t believe it!  Such a little peanut!  Hubs and I called the newly titled Big Sister, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends and just snuggled with him as nurses would pop in every once in a while to check on us.  He. Was. Perfect.

I didn’t get much sleep Saturday night as little man liked to be held close and not laid down, maybe because he knew what was coming and knew he wouldn’t be able to be held close like this – besides feedings – for the next 5 days?  I don’t know.  I had a fabulous nurse that night named Franki.  Our stories were all too similar and I know that she was placed as my nurse for a reason.  She came in and said she had looked at my chart and saw that we were similar.  I’m so thankful that she was able to talk to me about our losses and that she opened up to me!  She is a strong woman to be able to go to work at a place where she is surrounded by babies and new moms at all times!

Sunday morning when they took him to do the hearing test, give him the vaccinations, and do whatever else they do with newborns they noticed that he wasn’t acting quite right.  He was kind of flailing his arms, was jittery, and not breathing exactly how he was supposed to (I think).  They gave him something on the inside of his cheek to see if that would help with the jitteriness due to low blood sugar and it did not help so he was admitted into the Special Care Nursery.  In the SCN they hooked him up to all the monitors and inserted an IV to give him basically sugar water to help him maintain appropriate blood sugar levels.  I’m not sure when they noticed it, but they thought he might have an infection of some kind too so they started him on IV Antibiotics at this point too.

They were monitoring his oxygen levels andalso for seizures.  Thankfully he was able to regulate his oxygen on his own so he didn’t need that tube and he never had any seizures!  I think that was just because of the jitteriness too??

The blood cultures for the infection would start “growing” within 48 hours so he had to be on antibiotics for a minimum amount of that time.  If nothing grew then he could have the IV removed.  They continued to monitor the cultures for 5 days and nothing ever grew, thankfully!

During our stay in the SCN we had some absolutely AMAZING nurses!  (Liz, Michelle, and Kathy to name a few-Stephanie and Brittany, too) But I loved them all!  Side note: when I found out the babies could NOT be in the nursery anymore before he was born I was kind of upset.  Don’t look down upon me, but I am one of those mommas that sent her new baby to the nursery the first night so I could get a little sleep.  They don’t do that here anymore and I was frustrated!  ha!  NOW, after having a baby in the SCN, I am SO thankful!  It was much quieter and easier for me to sleep when he was sleeping and the nurses could focus on our little man that needed the extra attention whenever he needed it.

I was also discharged at the regular time so I ended up staying in the nursery in a recliner since I was nursing and didn’t want him to be supplemented with any formula.  The day I was discharged, husband and I left the hospital, empty handed, just so I could get out and get some fresh air.  Wow, that was hard!  Our baby just had to stay a few days there, I cannot imagine those moms and dads who don’t get to bring their babies home at all.  😦

In with all of the blood tests, they also check for jaundice.  His numbers were elevated and because he was preemie, they had to monitor him even closer, in the hospital.  So he got to be put on some pretty fancy lights which is why our stay ended up being so much longer.  They had him on “blanket lights” that kind of wrapped around him to help get rid of the toxins.  The blue cord in the photo on the left is the big strand of lights that go to the blanket.  It was pretty cool to see actually all lit up.  After those weren’t working, they got the high powered suitcase light for him to be under, but not until the sixth night.  He couldn’t be wrapped in anything with those so it also had heat lights in it.

When he got the IV out he was able to move to a regular room again and I stayed as a “house guest” which was nice because I had my own space (and bathroom)!  Liz managed to follow us from the SCN to our regular room and was fabulous.  She hugged me when I was upset because we couldn’t go home and that hug from, virtually a complete stranger, meant the world to me.

Every morning and evening they would come in and take blood samples from his poor feet.  They were so raw by the time we were discharged, I felt so bad!  Anyone who’s had a baby with jaundice knows how awful their little heels look by the end.  😦

I’m so incredibly thankful that he didn’t have something more serious wrong and that we were able to go home after 6 days!  Of course any amount of time in the hospital is no fun, but I’m glad we weren’t there for something more serious.

After lots of trips back and forth from the hospital to home and lots of take out and hospital food, we were able to go home!  The afternoon that we got discharged a big thunderstorm came through and the hospital actually lost power for a moment before, I assume, the generators came on.  The nurse came in to check on me and I nearly started to cry.  I don’t like storms the way it is.  I like them even less when I’m in a hospital, emotions running wild, and alone. The nurse probably thought I was a crazy lady but oh well.  Husband and little miss arrived shortly after the nurse checked on me in the midst of the pouring rain and I was very thankful they were there.

The weather probably wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was, but either way, the doctor was due to come visit us any minute with either good or bad news.  Every day prior to this I had heard bad news so I wasn’t holding my breath.  She came in and told us that his levels dropped enough that we could go home!!  I started to cry and told her I loved her.  haha

We left the hospital and the tears of joy were uncontrollable.  Joy that we were going home, with OUR new baby, as a family of four. I honestly have not felt that way before.  I couldn’t help it!  We had to explain that mommy’s tears were happy tears, not sad tears.

Again, I am so incredibly thankful for the awesome nurses!  I told Derek I’m going to miss them because I feel like we got to be friends even though I knew pretty much nothing about them.

While we were in the hospital I know SO MANY of you were praying for us!  I cannot thank you enough for being prayer warriors for us. Once again, I am humbled by the outpouring of support we received.  THANK YOU!!