Baker's First Days
Baker has been with us for 1 week! Can you believe it?
He has had kind of a rough start. We are sorry that we didn't really call or email anyone while things were going down, but it was a busy and trying time. Here is a recap of our little Baker's life so far.
The cesarean went great and Baker made sure to hose down the surgical assistant as soon as he came out of the womb. He was born at 8:11am and momma finally got to hold him at about 10am. He was 20.5 inches long and weighed 9 lbs 4 oz. He took to nursing right away! Of course when you are that big you better figure out how to eat pretty fast.
Once in the NICU they started an IV (I wasn't allowed to nurse because of the labored breathing and choking possibility). They also drew blood to check for an infection. After Dan got Dutch to bed he came back to the hospital. I started pumping because we didn't want Baker to lose out on the colostrum. Once Baker was settled into the NICU Dan and I went to see him. We were able to hold him, and then we went back to my room to try to get some sleep.
Monitors on his feet
Baker's awesome NICU nurses made him a sign for his bed
Tuesday morning we found out that almost all the fluid had absorbed into his body. Yay! I was able to start nursing again, and things were looking good. On Wednesday all the fluid was gone! The drs were pretty surprised at how fast he was able to clear it out. Since there was no infection they let Baker come back to my room. By this time I had already been discharged, so really I was a 'guest' in Baker's room.
We were all set to go home on Thursday. They took Baker to the NICU to do his final checks before sending us home. Enter Dr. Mazursky again. He was back on call that day and he came to my room rather sheepishly. He was sorry to come deliver some negative news, we could not go home. Baker's bilirubin, the toxin that causes jaundice, was high and in fact had jumped significantly in the last 12 hours. He had to be put under the photo UV lights, no nursing again. We had 2 options: put him back on IV fluids or supplement with formula. I pumped and we also supplemented with formula. After about 6 hours under the lights his bilirubin count had come down but not by much. He had to stay under all night. They decided I could take him out from the lights for 20 minutes every 3 hours to nurse. We still supplemented with that to make sure he had enough food to clear out the bilirubin.
He has had kind of a rough start. We are sorry that we didn't really call or email anyone while things were going down, but it was a busy and trying time. Here is a recap of our little Baker's life so far.
The cesarean went great and Baker made sure to hose down the surgical assistant as soon as he came out of the womb. He was born at 8:11am and momma finally got to hold him at about 10am. He was 20.5 inches long and weighed 9 lbs 4 oz. He took to nursing right away! Of course when you are that big you better figure out how to eat pretty fast.
We had some nice visits that day. Capri's mom and grandparents were there, as well as Jessica. Dan brought Dutch up after nap time. Now I should preface this with Dutch HATES medical facilities, doctors, and nurses. When he sees them he freaks out! That being said Dan brought Dutch up to the hospital to "see Momma and Baby Brother." Dutch have me a hug and then cried "All done. No more baby brother." He then cuddled with Nana and Jessica until he calmed down a bit. As the week went on Dutch got A LOT better with things. Everyone left around 5:30p and Baker and I were ready to get settled in for the night.
Enter Dr. Mazursky, who was great by the way. He said they needed to take Baker for a chest x-ray right away. They noticed some irregular breathing patterns and wanted to check things out. A few minutes later he came back with Baker and said they needed to put him in the Neonatal ICU (NICU). Baker's lungs were almost completely full of fluid. He didn't think it was an infection, but needed to make sure. They took him right then and I had the Dr. call Dan.
Once in the NICU they started an IV (I wasn't allowed to nurse because of the labored breathing and choking possibility). They also drew blood to check for an infection. After Dan got Dutch to bed he came back to the hospital. I started pumping because we didn't want Baker to lose out on the colostrum. Once Baker was settled into the NICU Dan and I went to see him. We were able to hold him, and then we went back to my room to try to get some sleep.
IV in his hand
Baker's awesome NICU nurses made him a sign for his bed
Tuesday morning we found out that almost all the fluid had absorbed into his body. Yay! I was able to start nursing again, and things were looking good. On Wednesday all the fluid was gone! The drs were pretty surprised at how fast he was able to clear it out. Since there was no infection they let Baker come back to my room. By this time I had already been discharged, so really I was a 'guest' in Baker's room.
We were all set to go home on Thursday. They took Baker to the NICU to do his final checks before sending us home. Enter Dr. Mazursky again. He was back on call that day and he came to my room rather sheepishly. He was sorry to come deliver some negative news, we could not go home. Baker's bilirubin, the toxin that causes jaundice, was high and in fact had jumped significantly in the last 12 hours. He had to be put under the photo UV lights, no nursing again. We had 2 options: put him back on IV fluids or supplement with formula. I pumped and we also supplemented with formula. After about 6 hours under the lights his bilirubin count had come down but not by much. He had to stay under all night. They decided I could take him out from the lights for 20 minutes every 3 hours to nurse. We still supplemented with that to make sure he had enough food to clear out the bilirubin.
Friday morning his test came back better so we turned off the lights and had to wait 6 hours and test again. This 'rebound' test would determine if we got to go home. His numbers came back up...but only very slightly. We got the green light to leave! I was so happy! Besides being trapped in a hospital, I was really missing Dan and Dutch.
It was great to come home and Dutch was over the moon to see that momma was leaving the hospital with him. Once we got here and he saw that baby came to he was a little confused. He is still dealing with some territorial-ness and jealousy, but each day is a bit better. In fact he even gave Baker a kiss goodnight on Sunday.
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