Caleb's first week was interesting.
At around 7ish, just after my parents and grandmother left the hospital, Ben was attempting to feed Caleb. Ben mentioned that he was having a difficult time getting Caleb to take the bottle, so the nurse offered to take over once she took care of something that I needed (I was still flat on my back from the c-section). The nurse headed out, and Ben laid Caleb down in the bassinet. He was going to help me eat my dinner (soup, bleh). He said something to me, then turned around to look at Caleb. He was choking on something. Ben yelled at me to hit the nurse button.
I was completely out of it and couldn't react fast enough to do so, but he managed to hit the button, then flipped Caleb over to pat his back. I was still barely even able to comprehend that something was wrong. Ben told the nurse over the intercom that something was wrong with the baby. He then got impatient with the nurse, and nearly knocked her over as he left the room to find her (or anyone).
The nurse took one look at Caleb, grabbed him and ran. Ben followed. A moment or two later the anesthesiologist who had been with me during my c-section called me to let me know everything was ok and that he'd be in the Special Care Nursery, etc. He had just been choking on leftover amniotic fluid, and they gave him some oxygen and he was OK, but they were still going to keep him in the SCN to keep an eye on him.
I called in the middle of the night to check on him. He had another episode of apnea but nothing serious or alarming.
The next morning they wheeled me down there to see him. While I was there the pediatrician who was there in place of my pediatrician (she was on vacation) came in, along with a specialist from another hospital. They looked him over, and started talking about putting him on some expensive formula, etc., but decided to try regular formula again and see what happened.
That didn't go over well. He kept having episodes of apnea, and spitting up his formula (and then choking on it). So they kept him on IV fluids until Thursday to see if they could get everything cleared out of his system. Another pediatrician was on call that day as the one seeing him all week was off, and that doctor took Caleb for some test to see what was going on internally when he drank. He told us Caleb had pyloric stenosis and needed to be transferred to Children's Hospital in Milwaukee (our hospital is too small to have a NICU or any kind of pediatric surgical services) to have surgery. They had been talking about releasing me that day but they were going to allow me to stay as a patient until Friday if Caleb was still in the hospital. If Caleb would have to stay any longer, they would have given me a room just outside the New Life Center (which had filled up in the few days I was there!) and allowed me to stay as a parent. However, with his transfer to Children's Hospital being imminent, they checked with the OB, who said I could go home.
I took a shower, while Ben ran home to get a few things, and take a few things home. The transfer would happen that afternoon. The nurse went over discharge stuff with me. Ben also took care of filling the prescriptions for pain meds that they were sending with me. I walked down to see my baby, had lunch, then napped most of the afternoon.
Finally, the transfer happened. The EMTs came to take him down via ambulance (so we wouldn't have to go through the ER). They got him strapped into the carseat, and then strapped onto the stretcher. Ben took our stuff out to the car, and the EMTs got the last minute paperwork they needed. The nurses gave me his footprints and a couple other things. The EMTs checked with me to make sure I didn't want to ride along. I really did, but I had a feeling I was going to be in a lot of pain on the ride down if I went with them.
So I said goodbye (temporarily) to my son, and parted ways with the EMTs. I left the hospital and met Ben at the front doors.
That's all for now. I'm crying as I write this, so I know that means I need to take a break.
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