Here is a quick up date on Riley...
Riley was doing great for about the first 14 hours or so. She nursed VERY quickly after delivery and seemed to be the happiest baby either of us had ever seen.
She definitely broke her dad’s heart about a hundred times that first day. She did, however, develop jaundice very quickly, which came about as a result of Amanda’s blood mixing with hers. Riley’s antibodies attacked Amanda’s blood, which is good, but she had a strong build up of Bilirubin which can cause many problems. She spent her first night under bili-lamps, and this ultimately cleared up.
During this time, Riley was getting stuck with needles for different tests about every couple of hours or so, and she would cry herself into such a frenzy that she would vomit everything Amanda gave her back up. This became very scary. Also, we learned that she had developed a Urinary Tract Infection at some point during the process.
(I asked her pediatrician if her circumstances of arrival had anything to do with it, and he said, “Sometimes babies get UTIs.”)
So, as our delivery center was a “well-baby” center, Riley had to be transported on Wednesday to the NICU. This, while very scary, was mostly due to her need for a 10-day cycle of antibiotics for the infection and her inability to hold down food. Our doctor at the center determined that he wanted Riley to have 24 hour care, and the birth center was not staffed or equipped for it. At his urging, we also agreed to have her tested for a litany of unlikely but possible diseases, bacterium, and viruses, because of the way her symptoms were presenting. Also, Riley was doing so much better, that the transfer was no where near as scary as her first night.
Fast forward to today. After lots of improvement and good news (and no internet access), Daddy has run home to take care of Tiger and pick Gramma J up at the airport, as she is going to help us out. Riley is gaining weight, nursing like crazy, and feeding from bottles of Amanda’s colostrum when Amanda is resting. Daddy loves to feed and hold her, as does Mom. She smiles, coos, and looks at us when she is awake, and she sleeps A LOT. She is still spitting up a little, but it is due to reflux, and we are feeding her in smaller doses, and burping her more often. The hard part is we cannot be with her 24/7, but the nurses in the NICU are getting tired of us. Dad had changed every one of her diapers until he left today,but one. (Yes, even the poopy ones!)
Daddy loves it when the doctors come by, because they always seem to have another test result that rules out another scary possibility. Her symptoms initially presented so strangely, but the doctor’s words were, “There are a few documented cases that have presented like this…” Dad thinks that her odds are very good, because a few cases in all of history are probably not of concern. We are waiting on one more test that we both hope and pray will come back negative. We should have it on Monday,
but Riley will still be on antibiotics for the UTI through Thursday or Friday.
Thank you all for your notes, thoughts, and prayers.
Riley was doing great for about the first 14 hours or so. She nursed VERY quickly after delivery and seemed to be the happiest baby either of us had ever seen.
She definitely broke her dad’s heart about a hundred times that first day. She did, however, develop jaundice very quickly, which came about as a result of Amanda’s blood mixing with hers. Riley’s antibodies attacked Amanda’s blood, which is good, but she had a strong build up of Bilirubin which can cause many problems. She spent her first night under bili-lamps, and this ultimately cleared up.
During this time, Riley was getting stuck with needles for different tests about every couple of hours or so, and she would cry herself into such a frenzy that she would vomit everything Amanda gave her back up. This became very scary. Also, we learned that she had developed a Urinary Tract Infection at some point during the process.
(I asked her pediatrician if her circumstances of arrival had anything to do with it, and he said, “Sometimes babies get UTIs.”)
So, as our delivery center was a “well-baby” center, Riley had to be transported on Wednesday to the NICU. This, while very scary, was mostly due to her need for a 10-day cycle of antibiotics for the infection and her inability to hold down food. Our doctor at the center determined that he wanted Riley to have 24 hour care, and the birth center was not staffed or equipped for it. At his urging, we also agreed to have her tested for a litany of unlikely but possible diseases, bacterium, and viruses, because of the way her symptoms were presenting. Also, Riley was doing so much better, that the transfer was no where near as scary as her first night.
Fast forward to today. After lots of improvement and good news (and no internet access), Daddy has run home to take care of Tiger and pick Gramma J up at the airport, as she is going to help us out. Riley is gaining weight, nursing like crazy, and feeding from bottles of Amanda’s colostrum when Amanda is resting. Daddy loves to feed and hold her, as does Mom. She smiles, coos, and looks at us when she is awake, and she sleeps A LOT. She is still spitting up a little, but it is due to reflux, and we are feeding her in smaller doses, and burping her more often. The hard part is we cannot be with her 24/7, but the nurses in the NICU are getting tired of us. Dad had changed every one of her diapers until he left today,but one. (Yes, even the poopy ones!)
Daddy loves it when the doctors come by, because they always seem to have another test result that rules out another scary possibility. Her symptoms initially presented so strangely, but the doctor’s words were, “There are a few documented cases that have presented like this…” Dad thinks that her odds are very good, because a few cases in all of history are probably not of concern. We are waiting on one more test that we both hope and pray will come back negative. We should have it on Monday,
but Riley will still be on antibiotics for the UTI through Thursday or Friday.
Thank you all for your notes, thoughts, and prayers.
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