Grey's Hospital Stay

Did you know the day Grey was born was actually his original due date? It stood at Sept. 20 for about 20 minutes until they measured him on the sonogram. He was barely significantly large enough to warrant changing the day. He was always measuring right on for the new date so I believed it. Guess sonograms don't tell you everything. Grey came at a really good time, though, for Sean had a test the day before and two big tests the day after. Thursday was ideal. So how was his hospital stay?

Right off the bat, the doctors wanted to do a Glucose Test on minutes-old Grey. Since he was a big baby, they wanted to check for diabetes. But, surprise, his numbers were actually low. So they checked again a little bit later and it was still low. There may have even been a third one, I can't quite remember.

They wanted to keep monitoring the levels so they required three consecutive test results with adequate readings. Now, understand that each of these tests required Grey's heel to be punctured and blood to be squeezed out. And they want to do it at least three more times? My poor baby!

The only way to increase his glucose level was for him to eat. So I let him eat. Eat and eat and eat. All through the night. I was highly motivated. Though that made for some very poor sleep and a sore body on my part, but what new mom doesn't experience that, right? I even let him have a formula supplement to help out since colostrum isn't the most filling. Thank goodness gracious, his next three tests were good enough. We were done with the heel pricks! Or so I thought.

My OB PA teased us the Friday morning that she'd have no qualms discharging us that day if it was okay with the pediatrician as well. We were psyched. But we had to wait all day for his jaundice test- another heel prick- and his circumcision. Plus, Sean was in and out with his two tests, then he went home to spend the evening with Liam and Dash (I skyped). So we spent the day getting to know Grey better (and taking a couple little naps). He already has a really strong cry that can at times sound like a tea kettle or what I'd imagine a pterodactyl to sound like. So we skipped the quiet mewling stage in which Liam and Dash began. He also doesn't have quite the wrinkly forehead that his brothers showed off because his heft's already filled it in. But that means it's soooooo soft. Grey has a really strong startle reflex so swaddling is his best friend. And he sure loves to suck.

The big bummer came in the evening when his bilirubin levels came back a little too high. They wanted him to stay the night and test him early in the morning. So once again I was told to let him eat a ton so he'd poop the bilirubin out. Now, by this point, my body needed a break from nursing and Sean was pretty convinced Grey was using me more for pacifying purposes than to receive nourishment. So we decided to try a binky and eat on a more scheduled timeline. But most of the night was spent Grey dropping his binky and us replacing it every ten minutes. Not to mention my feeding him every two hours. Yes, another bad night of sleep. We also gave him some supplemental donor milk that I think helped fill up his tummy. He's a big kid, he gets hungry. We'd have him suck on a finger and then syringe it in- technology at it's finest!

Saturday morning, Grey's bilirubin had increased so they ordered him under the dreaded lights. Sigh. Liam had to go under as well when an infant. The first little while Grey did okay. But after a couple hours, he was tired of being naked and unswaddled. He'd wake himself up constantly and just cry for some comfort. Honestly, I don't think he slept for more than ten minutes that day. Incidentally, neither Sean nor I got any rest. He had another bilirubin test (heel prick number NINE) that evening in which his levels went down slightly but the pediatrician wanted him to stay under the lights all... night... long. Oh man, this was not good, the kid can't sleep under those lights.

Sean went home for the evening again to be with Liam and Dash but looked up the specifics about bilirubin in his ped's book. He came back that night with a grocery list of reasons why Grey shouldn't need light therapy any more. But the chief reason was that Grey had actually dropped into the safe zone for bilirubin. We asked to see the on-call pediatrician but she actually refused to see us! She just used the nurse to pass along a message that he hadn't improved significantly enough to remove the lights. That was really frustrating that she wouldn't even come talk. But she did say we could hold him more as long as we used the "light blanket."

So that night we basically took turns holding Grey with the light blanket. It was the only way he'd get any sleep (and stop crying). Plus I had to feed him and give him the donor milk supplement. Worst night of sleep yet.

The morning jaundice test came back to be about the same. But that's not too bad since the older an infant gets, the higher the acceptable levels. We waited hours for the pediatrician to make her rounds but she finally came and cleared him to go home! Finally! After ten heel pricks, I think the kid's suffered enough. So we immediately dressed and swaddled him. Oh man, how he calmed down and slept. He needed it so bad. Meanwhile, we got everything ready for discharge and by 1 pm, we were finally headed home. I couldn't wait to see my other babies and actually get some rest! And by some miracle, every single person in our house took a nap that afternoon. Ah, blissful! It is so much better at home!