Hallo everyone,
The last time I explained the birth and the operation Kaitlin underwent after her birth. I thought the nightmare was over after the operation, but I did not realise that the after-care was crucial and would take time. Emotionally the recovery afterwards was the worst part.
After the operation:
Week 1.
Kaitlin was still connected to the ventilator. She was highly sedated for the pain.
Week 2.
Some of the tubes were removed but she was still connected to the ventilator. I was still not allowed to hold her in my arms. She was given tube feeding 1ml every 3 hours, not milk, but water. After a while they would pull back the fluid in the stomach that was not processed. It was a long and tedious process. I was advised to express as much milk as I can and hand it in at the milk kitchen daily so that when Kaitlin is ready for milk, that there would be enough for her. I was lucky to have lots and lots of milk. About once a week I was asked to leave the neonatal icu when they vacuumed Kaitlin's lungs. They did not want me to see that.
Week 3.
Kaitlin's feeding were jacked up to 3ml every 3 hours and it seems like she was healing because every time they pulled back fluid from her stomach, it seemed to get less and less. She was still connected to the ventilator.
Week 4.
By this time I was emotionally drained and dreamed of taking my healthy baby back home with me soon. I was seriously agitated with my breast pump. The ventilator was still connected, but the nurse realised that I might commit murder if I was not allowed to hold my baby very soon so they allowed me to hold her in my arms for about a half an hour on a Sunday afternoon. That was the best feeling in the whole wide world. After holding her I started to get really emotional and depressed. It seemed that this nightmare would go on forever and it broke my heart to see Kaitlin lying there and there is nothing I can do but pray.
Week 5.
Oh my soul! This was an emotional and weird week. Firstly Kaitlin started to smell my milk. So the minute I walked into the neonatal icu she would smell my milk and would search and cry because she wanted it. That caused bit of a problem as she was not on milk yet. A few times I was nicely escorted out because my smell upset my baby.
Secondly she contracted some sort of ventilator neonatal icu baby infection and was put into isolation. We were allowed to see her once we were suited and scrubbed up. The ventilator came off and she was transferred to an incubator. Still I was not able to hold her as often as my heart desired.
Week 6.
At this stage we were financially and emotionally drained and have not been home for six weeks. I had so much milk that I had to express milk about ten times a day. I had to make a trip to the clinic twice a day to hand in my expressed milk in the milk kitchen. Kaitlin was still in isolation and they started giving her milk via tube feeding.
She started to put on weight and look like a cute little pink bundle. She did not look as sickly as before. The doctor said ideally they would like to send her home once she weighs about 2kg. Her weight averaged between 1.6 and 1.8kg so we were extremely positive and even doctor said that she might be able to go home within the next week.
Then later that week one night we were phoned by the icu and told to come there as soon as possible as she had a fit. A fit?? I did not understand that. When we got to the hospital the paediatrician was busy doing a lumbar puncture on my small baby. I was besides myself and nearly had a nervous breakdown. She has made all this positive progress and now they tell me that this Fit has set my baby's recovery back two weeks. At first they did not have any answers as to why the fit happened or what had caused it. They did tests but everything came up negative. Kaitlin did not suffer from epilepsy or any brain issues. What had apparently caused the fit was that her incubator's heat setting was set to high. I nearly strangled that nurse. Luckily she was not on duty when we heard the news.
Week 7.
Kaitlin was allowed to be bottle fed. I was ecstatic. I was not allowed to breastfeed her as they needed to monitor her intake. I was in the clouds. She was starting to look like a normal baby and certainly acted the part. She was recovering beautifully and we were on cloud nine.
Week 8.
I got training in preparation for my baby coming home. Firstly we were given neonatal CPR. Then I was given training on how to monitor her intake and to breastfeed her. Then we got training on how to bath and dress and groom such a small baby. She weighed 1.9 kg's and was ready to be sent home. The last thing they did was give her all her immunisations and ran the final tests. Kaitlin were tested for Downs Syndrome, her hearing and motor functions were tested.
She was a healthy, normal baby without Downs Syndrome. She was admitted the sunday morning of the last week.
I was ecstatic. I finally was able to hold my little baby as long as possible and as much as I wanted. She was perfect.
Finally I was a mommy!
In my next post I will tell you how everything turned out up until now. And yes, there is a big bright happy ending!
Love
Leandra xx
The last time I explained the birth and the operation Kaitlin underwent after her birth. I thought the nightmare was over after the operation, but I did not realise that the after-care was crucial and would take time. Emotionally the recovery afterwards was the worst part.
After the operation:
Week 1.
Kaitlin was still connected to the ventilator. She was highly sedated for the pain.
Week 2.
Some of the tubes were removed but she was still connected to the ventilator. I was still not allowed to hold her in my arms. She was given tube feeding 1ml every 3 hours, not milk, but water. After a while they would pull back the fluid in the stomach that was not processed. It was a long and tedious process. I was advised to express as much milk as I can and hand it in at the milk kitchen daily so that when Kaitlin is ready for milk, that there would be enough for her. I was lucky to have lots and lots of milk. About once a week I was asked to leave the neonatal icu when they vacuumed Kaitlin's lungs. They did not want me to see that.
Week 3.
Kaitlin's feeding were jacked up to 3ml every 3 hours and it seems like she was healing because every time they pulled back fluid from her stomach, it seemed to get less and less. She was still connected to the ventilator.
Week 4.
By this time I was emotionally drained and dreamed of taking my healthy baby back home with me soon. I was seriously agitated with my breast pump. The ventilator was still connected, but the nurse realised that I might commit murder if I was not allowed to hold my baby very soon so they allowed me to hold her in my arms for about a half an hour on a Sunday afternoon. That was the best feeling in the whole wide world. After holding her I started to get really emotional and depressed. It seemed that this nightmare would go on forever and it broke my heart to see Kaitlin lying there and there is nothing I can do but pray.
Week 5.
Oh my soul! This was an emotional and weird week. Firstly Kaitlin started to smell my milk. So the minute I walked into the neonatal icu she would smell my milk and would search and cry because she wanted it. That caused bit of a problem as she was not on milk yet. A few times I was nicely escorted out because my smell upset my baby.
Secondly she contracted some sort of ventilator neonatal icu baby infection and was put into isolation. We were allowed to see her once we were suited and scrubbed up. The ventilator came off and she was transferred to an incubator. Still I was not able to hold her as often as my heart desired.
Week 6.
At this stage we were financially and emotionally drained and have not been home for six weeks. I had so much milk that I had to express milk about ten times a day. I had to make a trip to the clinic twice a day to hand in my expressed milk in the milk kitchen. Kaitlin was still in isolation and they started giving her milk via tube feeding.
She started to put on weight and look like a cute little pink bundle. She did not look as sickly as before. The doctor said ideally they would like to send her home once she weighs about 2kg. Her weight averaged between 1.6 and 1.8kg so we were extremely positive and even doctor said that she might be able to go home within the next week.
Then later that week one night we were phoned by the icu and told to come there as soon as possible as she had a fit. A fit?? I did not understand that. When we got to the hospital the paediatrician was busy doing a lumbar puncture on my small baby. I was besides myself and nearly had a nervous breakdown. She has made all this positive progress and now they tell me that this Fit has set my baby's recovery back two weeks. At first they did not have any answers as to why the fit happened or what had caused it. They did tests but everything came up negative. Kaitlin did not suffer from epilepsy or any brain issues. What had apparently caused the fit was that her incubator's heat setting was set to high. I nearly strangled that nurse. Luckily she was not on duty when we heard the news.
Week 7.
Kaitlin was allowed to be bottle fed. I was ecstatic. I was not allowed to breastfeed her as they needed to monitor her intake. I was in the clouds. She was starting to look like a normal baby and certainly acted the part. She was recovering beautifully and we were on cloud nine.
Week 8.
I got training in preparation for my baby coming home. Firstly we were given neonatal CPR. Then I was given training on how to monitor her intake and to breastfeed her. Then we got training on how to bath and dress and groom such a small baby. She weighed 1.9 kg's and was ready to be sent home. The last thing they did was give her all her immunisations and ran the final tests. Kaitlin were tested for Downs Syndrome, her hearing and motor functions were tested.
She was a healthy, normal baby without Downs Syndrome. She was admitted the sunday morning of the last week.
I was ecstatic. I finally was able to hold my little baby as long as possible and as much as I wanted. She was perfect.
Finally I was a mommy!
In my next post I will tell you how everything turned out up until now. And yes, there is a big bright happy ending!
Love
Leandra xx