Journal

Isabel is a little over 2 weeks old, and has already been readmitted to the hospital, but we are home now! The day after we got home from the hospital, we had an appointment with the pediatrician to recheck her bilirubin level, and it was too high, so she got admitted to a different hospital (THANK GOODNESS). Her pediatrician only admits to a different hospital than the one she was born at. And I'm so thankful because I was not impressed AT ALL with any of the services were I delivered.

1. The delivery was kind of rough, but oh well. But they gave me my epidural, then checked me and I was already complete and ready to push, so the epidural never really took. My husband and the nurse didn't believe that I was done with labor in 2 hours. They both said, "really?!?" when the doc said make her push. Garrick even said something about how quickly I was having my contractions 1-2 mins apart. It was within one hour of my water breaking. He even told me when we got home that he wasn't sure if I was measuring them correctly. I don't know why he didn't believe me, but the nurse didn't even seem to. I ended up having the push for 4 hours straight...

2. My baby was jaundiced when we went home and yet the newborn nursery staff or the peds staff NEVER once told me what measures I had to take at home. ie. feed every 2 hours, supplement if needed, window therapy, etc etc. Well, we got home and that night, I put her down and figured she would wake me up for feedings, well, she slept 7 whole hours that night. I completely freaked out when I woke up and forced her to wake up to feed.

3. I kept telling the lactation consultant and the pediatrician that I could not wake her up to feed her. I tried rubbing her back, wiping her face, stripping her naked, changing her diaper, and oral stimulation with glucose water. Yet, they didn't think anything about it except "it's normal for a newborn to be lethargic". YES, but it's also a side effect of jaundice..... which my baby HAD at the time...

4. I told them that she only had ONE wet diaper the day of discharge, and they said, "Are you the only one changing diapers?" Me: "YES". The nurse, "Well, someone has been marking wet diapers in the chart...." As if she didn't believe me....

Well because of all of that=readmission to a different hospital for jaundice. She was ineffectively breastfeeding which can contribute to it, and she had a cephalahematoma from the rough vaginal delivery that required 4 hours of pushing because the epidural was given too late, it made my pushing not as effective. Cephalahematomas can also contribute to jaundice beacause it's a big old bruise on the top of the head that she had to break down.

Anyway, I'm thankful she got admitted to a different hospital because lactation came in and gave me a nipple shield, which has helped and she is now breast feeding the way she needs to. I can also go there every Wed and get her weight checked to make sure she's getting enough and for a support group that is FREE, and I can talk to the lactation consultants at any time. I didn't feel comfortable with the prior lactation consultation; I would have never called her. That plus I didn't feel like any of my concerns were adequately addressed at the first hospital, which is a shame because my husband is a resident there...

So, while we had a rough first week, the second week is going better. :)

Some pictures:

First a before picture:
 

And after:

Getting stabilized in the delivery room. She had a nuchal cord...
 

I only got to see her for 5 mins before they put her in the nursery for further stabilization...

Finally getting to see her. She wasn't brought to my post partum room until 5:00 AM.

 

 

 



 

 

My proud family:

 

 

 
Going home:

 

Went for a docs visit yesterday.  They say it's still okay for me to be driving 2 hours one way to work....  Had a biophysical profile done excluding the non stress test.  They didn't tell me the results.  I saw the tech type 6/8.  But without the non stress test it doesn't mean much??? right??  I don't know.  OB GYN is totally not my forte!  Getting a non stress test Monday.  I have my first baby shower Sat.  :)

I continue to lift up Baby Isabel in prayer everyday.... please keep the prayers coming.