Saturday, November 29, 2008

Joshua's hospital stay

Basically when he was born he was grunting, not breathing properly and having trouble breathing. They thought there was fluid on his lungs and he was put on the CPAP and oxygen initially. They then figured out that there was an air pocket on one of his lungs and on his heart which prevented him from taking full breaths. So he was put under the oxygen tent. This was Sunday afternoon. They took a new x-ray Monday morning and he was starting to improve so later that day they took the oxygen tent off. Once they did that he was able to breath room air and has been ever since.I initially held him for only about 5 min Sunday morning at 2am right after he was born. I got to hold him the second time Monday afternoon. They then started feeding him through a bottle and I have been pumping since he was born. His feeding tube has been taken out, we have been able to bottle feed and I had a breastfeeding session with the lactation consultant Tuesday and Wednesday. The lactation consultants at the hospital are so wonderful along with all of the staff.

He was put into the special care nursery only 36 hours after birth, it is a step-down from the NICU. Once in there he was taken off of the IV, antibiotics and feeding tube. We got to bottle feed him beginning Tuesday. My milk came in Tuesday and since then I have been pumping like crazy to build up a supply. The hospital wants us to start slowly with breastfeeding and slowly wean off of bottles. He hasn't had any formula since he left the hospital as I have had enough pumped milk to keep up with his feedings.

He has been a very sleepy baby so far. We have to wake him to feed him every 2-3 hours. He also has a wonderful disposition and is a very content baby. We figure with all he went through in his first days of life he needs the sleep and we are still getting a good amount of sleep ourselves so we aren't complaining. It has been such a whirlwind since he was born and I spent my days in the hospital in a daze a lot of the time. He has barely been home for 24 hours and it has only been the 3 of us since this afternoon. Jamie is such a great daddy! I have still been very sore and have gigantic swollen ankles so I am very uncomfortable. He has been doing so much that I don't know what I'd do without him! He loves doing it too, we both enjoy taking care of him but the way Jamie is with him is just beautiful. I really am loving my new life!

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