TxCat
08-06-2013, 10:13 PM
So happy and relieved to say that we are finally home with DD#2, Katherine Alexandra, aka "Kit".
The plan was for me to have a repeat c-section on Aug. 12th, but at my regular twice-weekly follow-up appointment on Friday morning, when I was 38 weeks, my MFM declared that my amniotic fluid was definitely decreased from prior exams and that my OB should probably try to deliver me the following Monday. I relayed that message to my OB, and was pretty sure that I would get sectioned on Monday, only to find out 5 minutes later that the OR schedule was totally full on Monday, and she didn't feel comfortable delaying my delivery beyond that, so instead I would have my c-section that day, an hour and a half later to be exact. I was already at the hospital (chatting to work colleagues while I was waiting to schedule my supposed Monday section), so I didn't even have time to go home and get my stuff - I had to call DH and give him a list of the remaining items to pack and told him to hurry since that baby was going to arrive in less than two hours. Then I got fast-tracked through the admission and surgery preparation process, and it was off to the OR! Delivery went great, but baby girl turned a little blue once we got to recovery, and neonatology had to be called, which ended up in her being admitted to NICU for three days for transient tachypnea of the newborn - basically the assumption that she swallowed some amniotic fluid in her lungs during delivery and her breathing and oxygenation needed to improve over time as the fluid in her lungs was reabsorbed by the body. Everything on my side of recovery went wonderfully, but dealing with NICU was awful - the physicians changed 1-2x/day, and as a result, the plan of care kept changing, it didn't feel like we were updated regularly, and weaning DD2 off of the oxygen and breathing support occurred at a glacial pace, which, even to friends who work in neonatology, seemed like an unnecessarily long process. I quickly discovered that being polite and respectful didn't achieve anything - the only way that I was able to finally get answers to questions, get regular updates and to get a consistent, forward-moving plan of care was to be pretty aggressive and direct - I actually ended up telling one of the attending physicians that it felt like the NICU had kidnapped my child. Then, we had a huge war about feeding DD after 48 hours in the NICU - I ended up walking to the NICU floor every 2-3 hours (48 hours after my c-section) to nurse DD, but had to let them give her formula for one feeding so that they could "quantify" how much she was taking orally so she would meet criteria for discharge from NICU - even though she wasn't a preemie, wasn't there for any feeding or growing issues, only there for her breathing issues which were resolving by that point. I wanted to scream, but I wanted DD out of there ASAP, so I gave in on that battle. Fortunately, breastfeeding is going great so far, despite the fact that DD didn't nurse or even eat by mouth for the first 48 hours of life!
Anyways, after 3 days in the NICU, and 4 days in the hospital altogether, now we are home! So far DD2 is a great baby and DD1 seems to enjoy her baby sister - lots of wanting to help mommy, hold baby sister's hand, etc. I know it's not going to last, but I'm enjoying it for the time being.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3701/9456221982_3915aa8baf.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36223674@N05/9456221982/)
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5503/9453446541_28574d7b84.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36223674@N05/9453446541/)
The plan was for me to have a repeat c-section on Aug. 12th, but at my regular twice-weekly follow-up appointment on Friday morning, when I was 38 weeks, my MFM declared that my amniotic fluid was definitely decreased from prior exams and that my OB should probably try to deliver me the following Monday. I relayed that message to my OB, and was pretty sure that I would get sectioned on Monday, only to find out 5 minutes later that the OR schedule was totally full on Monday, and she didn't feel comfortable delaying my delivery beyond that, so instead I would have my c-section that day, an hour and a half later to be exact. I was already at the hospital (chatting to work colleagues while I was waiting to schedule my supposed Monday section), so I didn't even have time to go home and get my stuff - I had to call DH and give him a list of the remaining items to pack and told him to hurry since that baby was going to arrive in less than two hours. Then I got fast-tracked through the admission and surgery preparation process, and it was off to the OR! Delivery went great, but baby girl turned a little blue once we got to recovery, and neonatology had to be called, which ended up in her being admitted to NICU for three days for transient tachypnea of the newborn - basically the assumption that she swallowed some amniotic fluid in her lungs during delivery and her breathing and oxygenation needed to improve over time as the fluid in her lungs was reabsorbed by the body. Everything on my side of recovery went wonderfully, but dealing with NICU was awful - the physicians changed 1-2x/day, and as a result, the plan of care kept changing, it didn't feel like we were updated regularly, and weaning DD2 off of the oxygen and breathing support occurred at a glacial pace, which, even to friends who work in neonatology, seemed like an unnecessarily long process. I quickly discovered that being polite and respectful didn't achieve anything - the only way that I was able to finally get answers to questions, get regular updates and to get a consistent, forward-moving plan of care was to be pretty aggressive and direct - I actually ended up telling one of the attending physicians that it felt like the NICU had kidnapped my child. Then, we had a huge war about feeding DD after 48 hours in the NICU - I ended up walking to the NICU floor every 2-3 hours (48 hours after my c-section) to nurse DD, but had to let them give her formula for one feeding so that they could "quantify" how much she was taking orally so she would meet criteria for discharge from NICU - even though she wasn't a preemie, wasn't there for any feeding or growing issues, only there for her breathing issues which were resolving by that point. I wanted to scream, but I wanted DD out of there ASAP, so I gave in on that battle. Fortunately, breastfeeding is going great so far, despite the fact that DD didn't nurse or even eat by mouth for the first 48 hours of life!
Anyways, after 3 days in the NICU, and 4 days in the hospital altogether, now we are home! So far DD2 is a great baby and DD1 seems to enjoy her baby sister - lots of wanting to help mommy, hold baby sister's hand, etc. I know it's not going to last, but I'm enjoying it for the time being.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3701/9456221982_3915aa8baf.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36223674@N05/9456221982/)
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5503/9453446541_28574d7b84.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36223674@N05/9453446541/)