Our first night at home - Take One
Our first night at home, Jakob wouldn't nurse at all. I didn't have a breastpump yet, so out of desperation I tried to manually express
colostrum. I got a few precious drops which Jakob desperately took from the dropper. At the same time, Werner and my stepdad were at animal emergency with Phoebe, whose illness had worsened while we were at the hospital. By the time Werner got home, Jakob was becoming frantic. He was inconsolable and the inside of his mouth was dry. Even his cries sounded dry. At the same time, I was starting to engorge and was getting very uncomfortable. We called the 24-hour nurse hotline and were told to go straight to emergency, so at 1:30 we arrived at Children's Hospital emergency (essentially just a different part of the same hospital we'd left only a few hours earlier). I broke down as soon as we arrived at the nursing station. They got us in straightaway and got a breastpump so I could pump. When I asked to feed Jakob by dropper, the paediatrician didn't even respond to me, didn't even acknowledge what I'd said. They just got out bottles. They did a heel prick to check his blood sugar, which was low. His weight had dropped even further since we'd been discharged that afternoon. After feeding, they drew more blood, this time using a needle in his arm. It broke our hearts, and neither of us could even look. A nurse set the three of us up in a room, right by the nursing station, where we could also sleep and had a private washroom.
Around 4 am, people started coming into the room and woke me up. I was told that I had to express 30ml within 10 minutes because his blood sugars had continued to drop. He was also jaundiced by then. The paediatrician was the 4th person to come in, and got me horribly upset by telling me repeatedly that he was in danger of having seizures because of low blood sugar. I finally told her to get out of the room so I could calm down enough to pump. Werner had slept through all of this, but woke up when I started to sob as I pumped. I think I collected only about 10 ml, so they gave him formula. We didn't even have a choice.
I fell apart. I was dealing with my own postpartum issues, stressed out by the paediatrician's threats, and fed up with everyone telling me to rest while all this was happening around me. My already swollen feet got even worse, and it hurt even to try to put my super-sized pregnancy shoes on.
The day nurse was very very kind. She decided we needed a break and took Jakob to the nursing station so that we could go have breakfast together. I cried through breakfast.
From there, it all kind of blurs together. They got him stabilised. Werner went to the hospital shop and scouted out pumps, and when our day nurse sent us off for lunch we went and bought a pump. The nurses tried again to get a lactation consultant, but the page was never answered. By sheer coincidence, one of the other nurses happened to be a certified lactation consultant and she came and saw us, which was encouraging. We were discharged at 4 pm. Aside from the electric pump Werner had bought for me, we left with a bag filled with disposable bottles, tubes and syringes for tube-feeding, and bottles of ready-to-eat formula, all gathered up by the day nurse.
We were also given a follow-up appointment with a paediatrician. We saw Dr R. the next morning, and he was super. An older man with grandchildren of his own, he engendered trust and exuded reassurance. Jakob's weight, which Dr R. had calculated had dropped 11 or 12% below birthweight by the time we arrived at emerg, had begun to increase. He was healthy overall. Dr R. referred us to a GP who specialises in breastfeeding issues, and we were set up with an appointment for two days later.
colostrum. I got a few precious drops which Jakob desperately took from the dropper. At the same time, Werner and my stepdad were at animal emergency with Phoebe, whose illness had worsened while we were at the hospital. By the time Werner got home, Jakob was becoming frantic. He was inconsolable and the inside of his mouth was dry. Even his cries sounded dry. At the same time, I was starting to engorge and was getting very uncomfortable. We called the 24-hour nurse hotline and were told to go straight to emergency, so at 1:30 we arrived at Children's Hospital emergency (essentially just a different part of the same hospital we'd left only a few hours earlier). I broke down as soon as we arrived at the nursing station. They got us in straightaway and got a breastpump so I could pump. When I asked to feed Jakob by dropper, the paediatrician didn't even respond to me, didn't even acknowledge what I'd said. They just got out bottles. They did a heel prick to check his blood sugar, which was low. His weight had dropped even further since we'd been discharged that afternoon. After feeding, they drew more blood, this time using a needle in his arm. It broke our hearts, and neither of us could even look. A nurse set the three of us up in a room, right by the nursing station, where we could also sleep and had a private washroom.Around 4 am, people started coming into the room and woke me up. I was told that I had to express 30ml within 10 minutes because his blood sugars had continued to drop. He was also jaundiced by then. The paediatrician was the 4th person to come in, and got me horribly upset by telling me repeatedly that he was in danger of having seizures because of low blood sugar. I finally told her to get out of the room so I could calm down enough to pump. Werner had slept through all of this, but woke up when I started to sob as I pumped. I think I collected only about 10 ml, so they gave him formula. We didn't even have a choice.
I fell apart. I was dealing with my own postpartum issues, stressed out by the paediatrician's threats, and fed up with everyone telling me to rest while all this was happening around me. My already swollen feet got even worse, and it hurt even to try to put my super-sized pregnancy shoes on.
The day nurse was very very kind. She decided we needed a break and took Jakob to the nursing station so that we could go have breakfast together. I cried through breakfast.
From there, it all kind of blurs together. They got him stabilised. Werner went to the hospital shop and scouted out pumps, and when our day nurse sent us off for lunch we went and bought a pump. The nurses tried again to get a lactation consultant, but the page was never answered. By sheer coincidence, one of the other nurses happened to be a certified lactation consultant and she came and saw us, which was encouraging. We were discharged at 4 pm. Aside from the electric pump Werner had bought for me, we left with a bag filled with disposable bottles, tubes and syringes for tube-feeding, and bottles of ready-to-eat formula, all gathered up by the day nurse.
We were also given a follow-up appointment with a paediatrician. We saw Dr R. the next morning, and he was super. An older man with grandchildren of his own, he engendered trust and exuded reassurance. Jakob's weight, which Dr R. had calculated had dropped 11 or 12% below birthweight by the time we arrived at emerg, had begun to increase. He was healthy overall. Dr R. referred us to a GP who specialises in breastfeeding issues, and we were set up with an appointment for two days later.
posted by Melanie A at 9:29 a.m.
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