We got to keep Kian with us all day Thursday and overnight. Brian hardly set him down all day, other than when the rest of the family visited late in the afternoon. I got a little 30 minute nap late morning, but I couldn't sleep otherwise. It didn't help that I was getting checked constantly!
Around 7pm Brian opened the cot and he slept soundly other than one brief period until 7am! Someone was tired :).They took him to weigh him and give him his vaccination in the middle of the night, and I ended up having them keep him for about 2 hours so I could get a little rest.
At 5 they checked his bilirubin and a few hours later when the results came in the neonatologist came to tell us he was jaundiced. The last worry was the only one that came true, and he would have to be under the phototherapy light. We only got to see him for 30 minutes every 3 hours to feed, and at that point they thought it would be 5-6 days. We were really upset, especially because my parents were here and they wouldn't be able to visit him in the nursery or spend any time with him when he was out - he was nursing for the full 30 minutes if not a little longer at this point. Thankfully they were great and decided to stay at least at that point, and came to visit around his feedings. I got a few visits from the lactation consultant, and started pumping with a hopspital grade breast pump. That way when he got hungry between our feeding times they could supplement with breastmilk. At first they also did a few formula bottles, trying to get him to elimate more bilirubin.
Saturday morning his bilirubin was up instead of down, bad news. That same morning the A/C broke at our house and Brian went home to see if he could fix it or get it fixed. He also discovered that the chlorine had run out in the pool and we had green water. Ick. Luckily he managed to get the A/C fixed and shocked the pool, and though it was stressful all ends up just fine.
I got to meet Dr Laudonio, the brother of the vet I used to work for. He was filling in for Dr D and was the OB who officially discharged me and got me a script for stronger pain meds to go home with. Phew. I got discharged officially around 3pm, but they let us stay in our room. They ended up letting us stay overnight in fact, and that was really fantastic. It didn't cost us anything and we got to stay there with Kian for all of those ever so precious and brief feeding times.
Sunday we moved to what is called a 'parents room' around 6pm. It's not actually a labor and delivery room, and I got to sleep on a normal bed. It was probably not a very comfortable bed in fact but it felt heavenly to me! So many nights on the bed that comes apart for delivery had my tailbone screaming (there was a lump that always seemed to be in a bad place no matter how I moved). Papa James got to burp Kian on a visit earlier in the day this day, and we had a few more visits from the lactation consultant. My milk started to come in and Kian was doing great with nursing. His bilirubin was fairly stable at this point but up just a tiny bit. The doctor seemed to think he'd be going home the next day and in the afternoon he was circumcised. When I went to get him for his next feeding they showed me how to care for it. Oh boy. I wasn't prepared for it to look quite so bad, and the blood in the diaper was a surprise though I suppose it shouldn't have been. My mom was watching through the nursery window and she said all the blood drained out of my face. I thought I was going to faint! So much for being a tough mom. Ha. Luckily it didn't look nearly as bad the next diaper change and it got steadily better after that.
Monday was busy! His bilirubin test was done early in the morning and one of the NICU nurses came to do his car seat test. Basically they monitor him resting, then in his car seat to make sure it doesn't stress him too much. Apparently car seats are a big stresser on preemies, but he did very well. In the meantime the test came back and it was decreased slightly so they took him out of the lights! He got to come be with us at that point. Hooray! When they told me that I burst into tears and sobbed. I called my parents when I got myself under control but it didn't last long - I was sobbing by the time my dad picked up. When I finished telling him the situation there was a pause... "So... that's a good thing right?" Oh yeah. I should have started with 'good news!'. The sobbing must have thrown him off :).
We went to an infant CPR class and Grammy and Papa and Jaime came to visit again afterward. They did another bilirubin test and he looked good so we got the official OK to take him home. My parents took a load of stuff home with them, we had a final chat with the lactation folks and returned our rented breastpump, then homeward we went!
What a relief.
More to come soon, right now Kian's asleep and I need a shower!
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