my baby was put in the NICU too
not sure if our experience relates to yours at all, but will give you a quick overview of our trauma.
I was diagnosed with GBS at 36 weeks. I told the midwife then that I was refusing antibiotics at delivery, as I had received them with the child before and we battled thrush for months after. The midwife went on to tell me about how my child could become very sick, die, etc.....well I had done all the research and told her I was making an informed choice. I started herbal treatments immediately.
I got the the hospital about 40 minutes before I delivered. They were not happy that they couldn't get an iv in me, let alone try to push the antibiotics. Dd weighed 9lbs. Shortly after the delivery the CNM asked me if I wanted dd to have her first Hep B shot. I told her no, we would get it at the first doc appointment. She came back into the room a couple minutes later to tell me that since I had not been tested for Hep B during prenatal(I had gone to the lab and had all blood drawn at 9 weeks...plus how did they NOT notice the entire time I was going for prenatals???) they HAD to give not only the immunization but also immunoglobin to protect her in case I was infected. The next evening they came to tell me her white blood count was high and since she was at risk for GBS they had to start her on an antibiotic. She was active, alert and nursing like a champ from the moment I put her to the breast. An old time pediatrician came in the next morning and said he knows sick babies and mine was not sick, if he was on the next morning he would discharge her. I was discharged at 6:30 the next morning, I was asking what about my baby, the doc yesterday said I wouldn't be discharged until they figured out what to do about her. They told me they had nothing to do with peds, I was being discharged right then. I sat in the room that whole morning waiting for a pediatrician to come see dd. I finally had to ring the nurse's station and ask if someone was coming in. A doc finally showed up and said they had to keep her, even though her 24 hour blood culture came back clean, they wanted to wait on the 48 hour culture. I told him I wanted to take her out AMA, at which point he took a card out of his pocket and gave to me, telling me I needed to think about what I was doing and call him after I had given it some thought. Low and behold, on his card, printed under his name, was the title Child Abuse Specialist.
I was left alone in the room until midafternoon, except for a nurse who came in to give my dd a shot of the antibiotic. She jammed the needle into her leg so hard that blood started to come out around the needle, then she emptied the syringe so fast that the meds came gushing out around the needle, then when she pulled the needle out blood was spurting out of dd's leg. I started crying and asked her why that happened, it didn't any of the other times she was injected. Her reply was "Well, MOST mothers diagnosed with GBS come in and get antibiotics during labor so we don't have to go through all of this."
I put in a call to the pediatrician right after that, got no response. Finally when the nurses changed their shift a nurse who had been on during my delivery came in to see me, asking me why I was still there. I told her about the nurse from earlier, she had a supervisor come in to take a report. They then convinced me to let them put dd in the NICU for the night, even though my husband and I swore to them that we would bring her back for more antibiotics if need be. They admitted her to the NICU at 6 pm, came in late that night to tell us that the 48 hour culture was negative, then discharged her by 11 am. I feel like they held my baby hostage and gave her unneccessary meds.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell about how the morning after I delivered a doc came in and insisted that I go on antidepressants because I had postpartum depression after my 2nd baby...my first husband had taken off while I was pregant, I was living with my mom....terrible stress and strain at the time. I told this doc I was ok, I wasn't going to consider meds unless I started feeling symptoms. He told me he didn't want to see me drive my kids into a lake because I refused meds. I reported him to a social worker before I left the hospital.
Now I am preg with twins, due in about 9 weeks and my Dh thinks I am crazy for not wanting to deliver in a hospital.
Sorry, I have rambled enough
Chioma
momma. wow.
:
For the first six months of his life, he had retractions pretty much all the time; he still has retractions when he's sick, but that isn't terribly often. I credit child-led weaning with his health and well-being. 
). My twins were also in NICU, but born somewhat prematurely (36 weeks). They remained for six weeks. I learned a lot and was horrified and devastated.
DD recently celebrated her her 1st birthday and she's on target meeting all the developing milestones.
