What a roller coaster today was. We walked into the NICU to find a new nurse who immediately told us that Austin wasn't well. She said he hadn't pooped in two days so they were going to give him a suppository, he had thown up this morning and he had a residual of 4 1/2 ml. When it is more than 20%, the doctors are called in to assess the situation. Tom and I about had a heart attack because that means something is seriously wrong with his digestive system, an infection.. One of our worst nightmares. And to top it off, he had an elevated temp of 99.7.
Tom jumped in quickly to say that he had changed Austin's diaper yesterday and he HAD pooped, so the nurse from yesterday had neglected to write it down. One box checked off. We set up for Austin's 11:15 am feeding and I had a Come to Jesus conversation with him as I held him on my chest.. I sang to him and told him how much I love him and that he couldn't have an infection. We were going to work thru his rough morning together and he was going to be just fine. They had added the old 5.5 ml to his new 27. An hour later, we were done with his feeding and all we could do was wait because he had one more chance to get it all down before they called the doctors.
They usually check for residuals right before the next feeding so we waited and waited.. At 2:15, we checked and it was ALL gone! His temp went down bc we took his little hat off and unwrapped his swaddle. 98.8, sweet! Two more boxes checked off. Phew!!! Last but not least, he pooped again and it weighed 38 grams! I think he was just waiting for us today to put on a show.. If this is a precursor to his childhood, we are up a creek for sure.
So, in reality the only hurdle we really needed to deal with today was that his threw up. .. Not that he was getting some kind of scary infection. I'm a little mad at the nurses for dropping the ball and feel so grateful that we were there to interject. We went 360 degrees today emotionally. By the time we got home.. Tom and I walked into our bedroom and went to sleep. It was 4:00 pm. How in the world am I going to do this by myself when Tom goes to work?
Update on Grace ( poor girl got the shaft today)..
Tom snuggled with her for over an hour and she slept really well, no residuals at all, go Gracie!! She's gained a little weight and is up to 2 lbs. 15.7 oz. ;) She had a pretty bad desat today but recovered nicely. Thank you Gracie for not doing anything crazy today!
We just called the hospital and were told that Austin now weighs 3 lbs. 5.4 oz. That is great news, no residuals for either of them since we left, they are sleeping soundly after their baths and now we can put today to rest. More I'm sure tomorrow..
Until then, love to you all..
Erica & Tom
No comments:
Post a Comment