Isaac's nicu stay

Everything went so well with my labor and delivery, but unfortunately not our entire hospital stay was easy.  It's hard for me to not be really disappointed that it didn't go as I planned, but I continually remind myself of how many things went well and that at the end we have a healthy baby and I am so grateful for that.  When Addilyn was born we had a great first day and night and found out in the morning that she had jaundice and then spent the next three days in the special care nursery.  Well the same thing happened with Isaac.  Everything was wonderful and then the next morning he ended up going to the nicu and staying there until we went home three days later.

The afternoon after he was born I was holding him and he was making some gagging sounds and I saw white stuff in his mouth like he was trying to spit up.  He swallowed it and then seemed fine after.  Same thing happened later that night and around three in the morning he started breathing kind of weird, almost like he was congested and couldn't breathe through his nose.  When the pediatrician came in the early morning we mentioned it, he sounded fine then and she checked everything and he seemed fine.  Ten minutes after she left he was doing it again, making distress sounds breathing and not being able to breathe through his nose.  We called the nurse and she agreed it didn't sound right and took him down to the special care nursery.  Chris went with and about 15 minutes later the nurse came and asked if I wanted to go down there. 

I thought I'd walk in and see Chris holding him and they'd tell me everything was fine, but when I walked in he was hooked up to all these things, including an iv, and his little chest was breathing so heavy.  It was so sad and I felt overwhelmed and didn't even hear what the doctor was saying.  Combined with it being so hot in there, having not had a ton to eat and walking after not moving at all, I felt like I was going to pass out.  They got me a chair and juice and I started crying.  The doctor said he oxygen levels were low and they were going to check to make sure his lungs were clear with an x-ray and monitor him for awhile.  When they took blood his white blood cell count was high, which can be common in newborns, but they gave him antibiotics just in case.  

I felt nervous and so disappointed.  I was worried that he was going to get some kind of infection or had something in his lungs.  I was so sad people couldn't come visit and that he was stuck in the nicu. Thankfully I could still hold him, but they didn't want me to nurse because they didn't want his body to have to work any extra.  By night time he was breathing normal and his levels normal, his lungs came back clear but he still sounded like his nasal passage was blocked and couldn't breathe through it.  The next two nights we slept in the hospital room (they were so nice to let us stay an extra night even though I was discharged) and they'd call me when he needed to eat.  His nose would seem to clear, but then if he got upset from a diaper change, or from trying to latch, he'd get worked up and start to have trouble breathing again.  By Monday night he had been breathing better since the afternoon and while the different doctors had slightly different opinions, they found out his nasal passage was really narrow and he somehow got something in his nasal passage.  Either fluid from labor or colostrum from nursing.  Every time someone tried to clear it, it was probably just getting more inflamed and irritated.  But all his other levels were great and he sounded clear through the night, so they let us leave Tuesday morning.

Looking back, like many things in life, it ended up not being a huge deal.  But in the moments it was scary and not what I planned.  I am so thankful that we brought home a healthy baby boy and only a day and half later than we had originally planned.   I felt sad that we didn't get to have visitors come after the first day just like with Addilyn, but again, such a small thing compared to what so many people have to deal with.  I'm so thankful for such great nurses and doctors that are cautious and made sure our sweet boy was healthy before we brought him home!