Everything about his birth went great. The anesthesiologist was exactly what I needed. She walked me through the entire procedure step by step. Even though I'd been through it once before it was very reassuring to have a play by play. The doc did have a little trouble pulling him out and said if we have another she would probably make the incision a little bigger. She had to reach in and pull him out one arm at a time because he couldn't fit both shoulders at a time. Once he was out Trent and I felt a huge relief, He pinked up right away, cried right away, passed all his tests and was just the cutest squishiest baby. Shortly after birth they took him to the nursery and Trent followed while they finished sewing me up. As soon as I was done and they were wheeling me back to my room Trent came and asked if I was ready to feed the baby. So they brought him in and he ate for almost an hour. It was getting close to the time when Mya would be getting out of school and heading up to the hospital so after he was done eating we sent him back to the nursery for a bath. We wanted him nice and clean for the girls. Little did I know I wouldn't be getting him back.
Just shortly after the nurse took him for his bath he was laying in the bed while she was preparing his bath and he stopped breathing. *I later found out he just held his breath and then started breathing on his own again. Then his sugar level went really low, low enough that she had to quickly give him a bottle of formula without asking me first. And he also couldn't keep his temps up. So off to the NICU he went. The nurse was kind enough to bring him back to my room before taking him to the NICU so the girls and grandmas could see and hold him. But he was only with us for about 10 minutes. It was a very scary time because I wasn't really getting any answers.
This is what we saw when they finally let us in the NICU. So the nurse took him from me around 5 (which was feeding time) and said that they'd come get me shortly to feed him. It was nearly 8 before I heard from anyone and it was the hospital pediatrician calling to ask me a bunch of questions. I was a little upset at this point because I knew he was hungry and they weren't telling me anything. Well the doctor said they are having a hard time finding a vein because he's so swollen and they would like to run the iv through his belly button. Luckily my obgyn was checking on me and calmed me down and said this is what I wanted and not an IV through his head. Once I gave my consent she said she'd call me when I could go see him. It was about a half hour later that we got the ok to come see him. I was nearly beside myself, I wanted answers. Well I didn't really get many answers but the nurses who were taking care of him were fantastic and treated us so well. They did tell me that they believed that since he was so swollen that he had an infection and needed antibiotics right away. They ran a blood test that would take 48 hours to come back that would give us the yes or no for infection. So for a continuous 48 hours he got antibiotics. He had one other breathing episode the next morning. (he held his breath for 19 seconds)
He was born on a Friday afternoon and by Sunday evening he was able to get his oxygen flow taken off. From my understanding it wasn't that he needed oxygen it was just there to remind him to breath. I am so grateful that didn't last long nor was I present for either breathing episode. We also found out Sunday evening that the blood test came back negative so there was no infection, so they stopped the antibiotic. Each day, little by little I felt that we were closer to going home. The doctor finally told us that Miles needed to go 5 days without a breathing episode, so with everyone the 5 day count started over. So Saturday morning started our 5 day count.He was still pretty swollen and no one could tell us why. So they started running test after test. Monday was the day I was to be released but because I had major surgery and was back and forth from the NICU my blood pressure started to go up. My OBGYN decided to keep me one more night to make sure I was ok. Then we found out that the NICU would give us 2 free nights to stay. So if Miles didn't have another breathing episode we would all get to go home together. I have never prayed so much. I felt like all day long I was praying and constantly feeling the arms of the Savior around me. Tuesday he got his iv out of his belly button. Even though they stopped the antibiotics on Sunday he still was having a hard time keeping his sugars up so they were giving him sugar water. He needed to go two consecutive feedings above a certain number and Tuesday was the day! Because life goes on outside of the NICU I was alone a few times a day to feed Miles. One of those times the doctor came to talk to me about her thoughts on why Miles had pitted edema. She went on to tell me that she thought his kidneys were failing. um say what? This was my last straw. I had been holding it together pretty well considering everything that was going on. But I thought the doctor just told me my son was dying. I couldn't help it the tears just started falling. I think she felt pretty bad for me because she came and hugged me. We were truly blessed throughout the NICU stay. I look back and can see the hand of God in it all. I am so grateful. The doctor came and found me as soon as the results were in and told me that his kidneys were fine and everything was working properly. I felt so relieved and it reminded me of the blessing that Trent gave him that first night in the NICU. He blessed him that his body and his organs would function as they were supposed to. :)
Thursday is finally here. I never thought we would make it. It was the longest week of my life. I was so ready to get him home and to be the mom that the girls needed. This picture was the first time that I held him without him hooked up to anything. It was glorious! The whole time we were in the NICU I kept feeling very strongly that we just needed to get him home and everything would be ok. Sure enough a few days of being home and he lost an entire pound in water weight. I still have no answers as to why he was so swollen but he's fine! Welcome to our family Miles Ray Christensen. *he was born on a Friday and named on Tuesday
