Monday, May 11, 2009
Just a few short hours after the best day of our lives, Matt and I would experience the most difficult and trying day of our lives.
The first night with Baby Duncan went very well. He was feeding like a champ and I couldn't sleep because I just wanted to stare at him all night. Matt took to father-hood like he had done it before and immediately took the role as the swaddler and the burper - he was better at those duties than I was. He also did the diaper changes and helped me with feeding time - keeping Duncan awake, etc. We had so much fun our first night! At 6am Monday morning I had finished feeding him and was burping him on my shoulder when i felt a gush of what I thought was spit-up. When I looked I saw red blood and called for Matt who was in the shower and pushed the red emergency button. The nurses rushed in and took Duncan and laid him on his side and tried burping him again and he threw up 2 large heaves of red blood onto the floor. They rushed him away and I heard them say ICU and they looked back at Matt and I and told us to stay put. We were very scared and felt totally helpless. When we got to go into the NICU to see him he had machines hooked up and tubes coming out from everywhere. It was very hard for me to see. We couldn't hold him - just touch and talk to him. Matt stayed at his side the entire day and listened intently to everything that the Dr.'s and nurses were telling him. He also asked a bunch of questions and called his doctor connections to ask opinions. I honestly believe that if he hadn't been so diligent and present in the NICU we wouldn't be where we are today. The doctor there was great - they ran a whole bunch of tests and they slowly came back - one-by-one we could rule out certain possibilities as to why he would have accumulated so much blood in his stomach. Meanwhile, Duncan was also passing stools with blood in it. When they couldn't figure out the cause, they called a Pediatric Gastrointerologist Specialist from Dell Children's Hospital - "Dr. B". It was 5:00 and Dr. B was on her way home and stopped by St. David's NICU to look Duncan over. She recommended puting a camera down the esophagus, into the stomach and the intestines to see if she could find anything. She was able to get her crew at Dell Children's Hospital together for a late night emergency operation. Within hours they had an ambulance and he was scheduled to be transported. It was heart wrenching to watch my baby being wheeled in a plastic box into the ambulance and have to follow him to another hospital.
When we got to Dell Children's Hospital I immediately felt a little more at ease with the situation. It was evident from the very beginning that they not only cared for Duncan's health and well-being, but also for Matt and I. They immediately had me meet with a lactation specialist to make sure I didn't miss a beat on creating the very best nutrients for Duncan, but they also put us up in a "Family Bonding" room just a few doors down from Duncan's NICU room. I had been so afraid I would have to go home without my baby. They allowed us 24 hour visitation and actually had us be a part of everything they did. We checked his temperature, did all the diaper changes, they kept us informed on everything they were doing. It was really a wonderful place with wonderful people.
We walked down with Duncan to the OR and met with the anesthesiologists. We then waited in the waiting room for the results. Luckily for me and my weary nerves, it only took about 30 minutes before Dr. B came to give us the report - it was good! She didn't find anything - no signs of bleeding which meant that it was her speculation that the blood in his stool and coming up was from one incedent - maybe a leasion when they cleared out the placenta from his stomach after delivery. But, of course they needed to keep monitoring him to see if he was loosing blood or if it continued to happen. We finally ended the long day at 2:00 am.
Just a few short hours after the best day of our lives, Matt and I would experience the most difficult and trying day of our lives.
The first night with Baby Duncan went very well. He was feeding like a champ and I couldn't sleep because I just wanted to stare at him all night. Matt took to father-hood like he had done it before and immediately took the role as the swaddler and the burper - he was better at those duties than I was. He also did the diaper changes and helped me with feeding time - keeping Duncan awake, etc. We had so much fun our first night! At 6am Monday morning I had finished feeding him and was burping him on my shoulder when i felt a gush of what I thought was spit-up. When I looked I saw red blood and called for Matt who was in the shower and pushed the red emergency button. The nurses rushed in and took Duncan and laid him on his side and tried burping him again and he threw up 2 large heaves of red blood onto the floor. They rushed him away and I heard them say ICU and they looked back at Matt and I and told us to stay put. We were very scared and felt totally helpless. When we got to go into the NICU to see him he had machines hooked up and tubes coming out from everywhere. It was very hard for me to see. We couldn't hold him - just touch and talk to him. Matt stayed at his side the entire day and listened intently to everything that the Dr.'s and nurses were telling him. He also asked a bunch of questions and called his doctor connections to ask opinions. I honestly believe that if he hadn't been so diligent and present in the NICU we wouldn't be where we are today. The doctor there was great - they ran a whole bunch of tests and they slowly came back - one-by-one we could rule out certain possibilities as to why he would have accumulated so much blood in his stomach. Meanwhile, Duncan was also passing stools with blood in it. When they couldn't figure out the cause, they called a Pediatric Gastrointerologist Specialist from Dell Children's Hospital - "Dr. B". It was 5:00 and Dr. B was on her way home and stopped by St. David's NICU to look Duncan over. She recommended puting a camera down the esophagus, into the stomach and the intestines to see if she could find anything. She was able to get her crew at Dell Children's Hospital together for a late night emergency operation. Within hours they had an ambulance and he was scheduled to be transported. It was heart wrenching to watch my baby being wheeled in a plastic box into the ambulance and have to follow him to another hospital.
When we got to Dell Children's Hospital I immediately felt a little more at ease with the situation. It was evident from the very beginning that they not only cared for Duncan's health and well-being, but also for Matt and I. They immediately had me meet with a lactation specialist to make sure I didn't miss a beat on creating the very best nutrients for Duncan, but they also put us up in a "Family Bonding" room just a few doors down from Duncan's NICU room. I had been so afraid I would have to go home without my baby. They allowed us 24 hour visitation and actually had us be a part of everything they did. We checked his temperature, did all the diaper changes, they kept us informed on everything they were doing. It was really a wonderful place with wonderful people.
We walked down with Duncan to the OR and met with the anesthesiologists. We then waited in the waiting room for the results. Luckily for me and my weary nerves, it only took about 30 minutes before Dr. B came to give us the report - it was good! She didn't find anything - no signs of bleeding which meant that it was her speculation that the blood in his stool and coming up was from one incedent - maybe a leasion when they cleared out the placenta from his stomach after delivery. But, of course they needed to keep monitoring him to see if he was loosing blood or if it continued to happen. We finally ended the long day at 2:00 am.
Oh my gosh, Paige!! I hope everything is going smoothly now and you guys are home and happy. Being a mommy is awesome and you are going to LOVE having a little boy!! I hope you guys are doing well. I'm so excited to follow you on your blog! Congrats!!
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