Hi guys. I have a long and wonderful birth story mostly written. But that will have to wait.
Right now I'm typing on my phone from the NICU.
Sprout did great after the birth. However, the midwives left instructions for doing vitals every 4 hours after the birth. At our first check, at 6:30pm, Sprout was breathing very fast. His rate should have been below 60, but it was over 100. The midwife came by and also found it elevated. She recommended we have him checked.
So we went to the local childrens hospital. They did a chest x-ray and saw fluid in his lungs. Around midnight, we were transferred to a transitional nursery for monitoring. It was terrible. DH and I sat in office chairs next to the monitors so we could hold him all night. The docs were passing him around, and no one would take control of his care. My 8-stitch tear was in such pain.
They finally found us a spare room, and I slept for an hour around 2:30am -- my first sleep since waking up in labor at 5:30am the morning before. But then he needed to nurse.
DH went home for 2 hours of sleep while I stayed in the chair until around 9am. Sprout's resp rate was still slightly high, and they pushed for antibiotics. Exhausted and confused, we finally agreed.
Problem was, they didn't know where to put him. He wasn't really sick enough for NICU, but I wasn't leaving him. NICU was the only place that had some room for someone to stay with him.
The antibiotics and blood cultures were started Thursday afternoon. They require a 48 hour stay. I have a chair, Murphy bed, and permission from the doc to do as much of his care as possible.
The stay is terrible. The rules are ridiculous. They have no consessions for exclusively breastfed babies. They act all embarassed and pull the curtain when we nurse. I have to leave him for an hour, twice a day for shift change. I can't eat in the pod -- I have to go out to the waiting room, then do a 3 minute hand wash to get back in.
I have slept 2 hours in the last 39, since I woke up in labor.
There's more, but I don't have the energy. I need all the support I can get from a community who knows the right way to treat babies and moms.
Right now I'm typing on my phone from the NICU.
Sprout did great after the birth. However, the midwives left instructions for doing vitals every 4 hours after the birth. At our first check, at 6:30pm, Sprout was breathing very fast. His rate should have been below 60, but it was over 100. The midwife came by and also found it elevated. She recommended we have him checked.
So we went to the local childrens hospital. They did a chest x-ray and saw fluid in his lungs. Around midnight, we were transferred to a transitional nursery for monitoring. It was terrible. DH and I sat in office chairs next to the monitors so we could hold him all night. The docs were passing him around, and no one would take control of his care. My 8-stitch tear was in such pain.
They finally found us a spare room, and I slept for an hour around 2:30am -- my first sleep since waking up in labor at 5:30am the morning before. But then he needed to nurse.
DH went home for 2 hours of sleep while I stayed in the chair until around 9am. Sprout's resp rate was still slightly high, and they pushed for antibiotics. Exhausted and confused, we finally agreed.
Problem was, they didn't know where to put him. He wasn't really sick enough for NICU, but I wasn't leaving him. NICU was the only place that had some room for someone to stay with him.
The antibiotics and blood cultures were started Thursday afternoon. They require a 48 hour stay. I have a chair, Murphy bed, and permission from the doc to do as much of his care as possible.
The stay is terrible. The rules are ridiculous. They have no consessions for exclusively breastfed babies. They act all embarassed and pull the curtain when we nurse. I have to leave him for an hour, twice a day for shift change. I can't eat in the pod -- I have to go out to the waiting room, then do a 3 minute hand wash to get back in.
I have slept 2 hours in the last 39, since I woke up in labor.
There's more, but I don't have the energy. I need all the support I can get from a community who knows the right way to treat babies and moms.
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