Needles and NICU

Bililights: A form of light treatment used to help rid the body of excess bilirubin.

Exactly a week ago, Nathan was admitted into the NICU for an extreme case of jaundice. While jaundice is a common disorder among newborns, a combination of a high red blood cell count, my milk not coming in fast enough, and being part Asian was a recipe that caused his bilirubin levels to reach an extremely dangerous level.

We were at the hospital for 2 nights and almost 3 days. We were lucky to be able to get a room to stay in overnight in the NICU. Even though I knew that Nathan was going to be ok in a few days, I don't think I have ever been so worried, scared, and emotional in my life. When I saw the IV needle taped onto his little hand, I admired how brave he was, and howI, myself was super scared about the IV (but luckily I didn't need to be hooked up to an IV at the birthing center).

I cried a lot those few days and after thinking about it, my tears were mostly tears of frustration, or tears of comfort. Most of the nurses there were unable to answer many of the questions that we had. Most of them would reply with, "well, it depends..." or "Each doctor has their own way of interpreting, so I'm not sure..." There was one nurse, in particular who seemed off. She was unable to answer any of our questions, and didn't even know if it was ok for us to put lotion on Nathan's dry feet. Unfortunately, she took care of Nathan for 2 shifts. Oh, there was one point when I went in to visit Nathan and when I felt him, he was burning hot. I mentioned it to the bad nurse and she told me to take his temperature. I took his temperature and it reached 100 degrees. Turns out, she had flipped him and didn't move the temperature sensor that controlled the heating lamp above Nathan's bed.

But then there was this awesome nurse, Lisa. She had the overnight shift and when we visited she updated us on his status, told me that he was drinking all of my pumped milk (when the bad nurse said that he's only on formula), allowed us to put lotion on his feet, let us give him a bath and hold him, and even gave Steve the algorithm that the doctors used to determine how risky the bilirubin levels were in a newborn.

In the end, I learned a lesson about needing to truly trust in God. Throughout the pregnancy, I read countless books on prenatal and baby care, making sure that I would know what to do, and know what to expect. I wanted to make sure that I was in control. But those books didn't prepare me for Nathan's birth and the days that followed. Things were out of my control, but luckily, we have an awesome God who is.

When Nathan was born, he was 6 lbs. 3 oz. When he was admitted into the hospital, his weight had dropped down to 5 lbs. 7 oz.. On the third night, we had received a phone call from the doctor saying that Nathan was stable, but they wanted to keep him overnight and test his levels one more time in the morning before he was discharged, so we went home to rest in our own bed. Around 9:30, the hospital called again, and this time, a different doctor informed us that Nathan could go home tonight. Ecstatic, we rushed to the hospital where Jimmy, the nurse, hurried through the discharge process and by 12:30, we were finally headed home. Nathan's discharge weight was 6 lbs. 2 oz..

A few days later, we took Nathan in to see the pediatrician and he looked good. In fact, his weight had gone up to 6 lbs. 5 oz. He's still a little yellow in the face and in parts of his eyes, but for the most part, he's back to normal. Now, we're just doing the feeding, changing and sleeping cycle. I'm feeding him on demand and he's normally sleeping for about 2.5-3.5 hours, meaning that I only have to get up 2-3 times a night to take care of his needs. Which isn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Funny story today: I had just finished feeding and changing Nathan's diaper. As I held him in front of me, I kissed him on the cheek and told him "I love you" Immediately, he responded by spitting up milk all over