Me & Mine: Our Hospital Stay and Bringing Sam Home

So after Sam was born, he had a few small issues. I wasn't concerned because he was a little guy for his gestation. The doctor and nurses call it SGA (small for gestational age). All of my babies have been little. (God bless you women who deliver babies larger than 7 lbs because I wanted to vacuum this baby out myself and he was tiny!) Ella was only 6 lbs 1oz and Madeline was only 6 lbs 10 oz. Maybe my uterus only allows for babies to grow that size. I have no idea.

But in the wee early hours after he entered this world, we had our first scare. He wouldn't really wake up for his 3am feeding (only his 3rd one of his life). I called the nurse after seriously trying for an hour and she came in and checked his temperature and heart rate. Then she called another nurse in to do the same to double check her own work. Apparently, he couldn't keep his body temp up and it fell to 95 degrees (while wearing a sleeper and being double swaddled with a hat). His heart rate was only 80 when they want newborns to be at least 120. They whisked him away and told me he needed to be monitored in the nursery for a few hours. I felt helpless. Come to find out he needed an IV (imagine that little six pounder with an IV...oh heartbreaking) and they did all sorts of blood work and chest xrays. In the end, the dr said he was just fine. He was away from me for about five hours and I think I stayed awake wondering the entire time and imagining the worst.

See that little dot in the middle of his hand? That's where his IV was put in. This pic was taken 10 days after!

Then after that scare, around midnight the next night, the nurse came in to do his vitals, footprints, and jaundice testing. Yeah, his levels were a bit high so in she walks with this giant tanning bed machine. After she's done setting it all up and leaves the room, Tom pops his head up from his deep slumber in that extra cozy chair/bed (sarcasm here) and says "what's up with the GTL machine?" (Jersey Shore...gym, tan, laundry) I laughed so loudly and honestly, it was exactly what I needed to hear. Neither of our girls really had jaundice issues so this was all new to me. I am a huge worry wart already and to add this to the mix...I needed some humor. Sam hated that tanning bed...his poor body shook from being uncomfortable and cold. I would have to unplug it and sit next to it every time he needed to nurse. Tom sat by it holding Sam's little leg trying to keep him warm and soothe him. Needless to say, I don't think any of us slept that night.

We were hoping to check out of the hospital by noon on Thursday, but Sam had to stay a little longer for more blood work for the jaundice. Thank goodness he passed and we were home by 7pm that night. Our longest post-baby hospital stay ever.

I swear my bed at home has never felt so comfortable before.

We were in and out of the hospital all weekend for bilirubin checks. And again on day 6. Finally his levels improved enough to where he didn't need his foot poked for any more blood work.

Pic 1: taking his heart rate Pic 2: Holding a heat pack to his foot to loosen the blood Pic 3: medic drawing the blood (btw he didn't get enough so another nurse came back in to poke him a second time!) I think he has ten pokes total on his feet:(

I don't know how parents cope when something is seriously wrong with their child and their health. I don't think I could handle seeing any of my children in pain or knowing there wasn't anything I could do to fix it. Watching Sam get his blood drawn over and over and seeing his little scab from the IV and his scabs on his feet...makes my heart hurt. I'm just very thankful it was all minor issues and we are thoroughly enjoying having him healthy at home with us:)

Some happier photos...