Hospital Stay and Doctors' Visits

We checked in to the hospital Friday 5/7 at 7:00. Nate arrived at 5:47 the next morning. We hadn't slept and neither had our families that were waiting at the hospital. John's family actually had to go to check-out from the hotel they had never actually slept in before they could see the baby. My mom and Melinda were able to wait around until they set us up in a post-partum room so that they could meet Nate. John's family came back later and his parents welcomed their first grandchild into the family. When everybody left, we took a much needed nap.

Saturday night went smoothly with Nate waking up about every two hours to nurse but then going back to sleep. My mom and Melin were still in town so they visited on Sunday and so did our friend Natalie. Sunday was Mother's Day and the hospital staff were very sweet. The nurses gave us each a potted snapdragon plant and the food service staff sent up a carnation with a poem up on our breakfast tray. Nate gave me a Honu necklace with a mom and baby turtle to match the earrings John gave me for our first anniversary. I also got gifts from John, his mom and my mom. Nate had a lot of gas all day and was not as interested in nursing. He also had a hard time sleeping because of it.

Monday when they checked his bilirubin levels they came back elevated and the nurse practitioner decided he needed phototherapy. We thought we were going home Monday so it was disappointing to know we would be there another night. I wasn't happy about having him separated from us and was even less happy when I saw him in the isolet with the paper covering his eyes and hearing him wail. It was so hard to not be able to swoop him up and console him. The nurse said they usually gave babies pacifiers to help soothe them but we had requested no artificial nipples so she said unless we changed our mind he would basically sit in there and cry the whole night because they couldn't take him out except for me to nurse him for 30 minutes every 2.5 hours. There was no way I could stand that so we told her just to give him the pacifier. They asked about supplementing him with formula while he was under the lights but even though I kept asking why he would need supplementation, I wasn't getting a straight answer. I also asked about using a syringe to feed him and received an answer of "it's not possible". Finally, one nurse said something to the effect of "you aren't producing enough milk and that's why he needs the treatment in the first place." I was soo upset. No one had said anything to me about not producing enough milk let alone that being why he was jaundiced. After all the things that my body seemed not able to do during labor and delivery that comment pushed me over the edge. I started crying and had to leave the nursery while John fed the baby a bottle- the last thing left in tact on my birth plan. After talking to the charge nurse I learned that 1. There was no reason to believe that the jaundice had anything to do with my milk supply, 2. He needed supplementation because of the dehydrating effect of the lights, 3. There was no reason we couldn't do syringe feedings, and 4. He was close to losing 10% of his body weight from birth (ten percent is when they start to get concerned). The charge nurse taught John how to do the syringe feeding and each time they brought Nate in for me to nurse, John gave him a syringe feeding of formula.

Tuesday morning they re-tested his blood and said his bilirubin levels were fine and we would be able to take him home. I was soo thrilled. I wanted to take him home. Unfortunately we noticed that the formula feedings had already affected his nursing and we were having issues with him not wanting to work so hard for his food. They discharged us Tuesday afternoon with a follow-up at the pediatrician the next day.

When we got home my mom told me she wasn't going to be able to stay through the weekend like she thought because her sister had died and she had to go back to NY for the arrangements. My aunt had been sick for awhile so it wasn't a surprise, but she was also my mom's last living family member since her parents and brother had all died when I was little.

Wednesday we brought my mom to the train to go back to NY and then went to the pediatrician. They ran labs on Nate and said his bilirubin levels were great. The doctor also said that if the formula feedings were interfering with breastfeeding he felt comfortable discontinuing them as long as we came in for a weight check Friday and things were looking good. He also recommended going to see a lactation consultant to work on the problems that had cropped up.

Thursday we went to see the lactation consultant. She was very helpful and informative. I felt more like we had a plan after talking to her and Nate seemed to do really well with her suggestions.

Friday we went back to the pediatrician where the nurse weighed him. He had gained 3 oz so we were given approval to continue with just breastfeeding.

All these interventions and doctors' visits made me grateful for a day home Saturday without the worry of a new problem cropping up. We have been enjoying our first doctor-free day since last Thursday!