Hospital Stay
Aida had to stay in the hospital for the first 9 days of her life. She was breathing and eating completely on her own for her first 2 or 3 days and was able to stay in my hospital room with me. On the 3rd day she developed jaundice. They put her on the bili bed with the lights and hooked her up to an oxygen saturation monitor.
She was going to come home on Tuesday but on Monday night she had a apnea episode where she stopped breathing for a moment and her heart rate dropped. Because of that episode, she was hooked up to full monitors (heart rate, respiration, and oxygen saturation) and had to stay in the hospital till at least Friday.
While she never had another full-on apnea episode, her oxygen saturation would sometimes drop to the low 80s (normal levels should be 90 or above) when she was in a deep sleep or eating. This is relatively normal behavior for a premie but it was enough to keep her in the hospital under observation.
It was hard not being able to bring her home right away. We were going back and forth to the hospital all day long, hanging around for as many feedings as possible. It was very exhausting. My mom would stay with me at the hospital while Zack was still trying to get our house ready for Aida to come home. At least with her being in the hospital for those 9 days gave us the time to get the car seat, crib, diapers, and everything else we needed.
On Friday morning we got to the hospital for her normal feeding and were told that her oxygen saturation levels had once again dropped pretty low during the night and that they wanted to put her on continuous oxygen to help her breath and that would require another 24 hours of observation. We were very upset but there was not much we could do.
Saturday morning we learned that she had done great throughout the night on the oxygen and we would get to take her home. We were estatic. She was going to have to stay on the oxygen for a few weeks and we would have to use a home monitor to check her saturation levels, but we didn't care. We just wanted to bring her home.
We left the hospital around 3:00 pm on May 27th. She finally got to put on a real outfit even though they were way too big for her. Zack had decorated the house with pink streamers and balloons and signs. It was a happy day.
Welcome Home, Baby!
She was going to come home on Tuesday but on Monday night she had a apnea episode where she stopped breathing for a moment and her heart rate dropped. Because of that episode, she was hooked up to full monitors (heart rate, respiration, and oxygen saturation) and had to stay in the hospital till at least Friday.
While she never had another full-on apnea episode, her oxygen saturation would sometimes drop to the low 80s (normal levels should be 90 or above) when she was in a deep sleep or eating. This is relatively normal behavior for a premie but it was enough to keep her in the hospital under observation.
It was hard not being able to bring her home right away. We were going back and forth to the hospital all day long, hanging around for as many feedings as possible. It was very exhausting. My mom would stay with me at the hospital while Zack was still trying to get our house ready for Aida to come home. At least with her being in the hospital for those 9 days gave us the time to get the car seat, crib, diapers, and everything else we needed.
On Friday morning we got to the hospital for her normal feeding and were told that her oxygen saturation levels had once again dropped pretty low during the night and that they wanted to put her on continuous oxygen to help her breath and that would require another 24 hours of observation. We were very upset but there was not much we could do.
Saturday morning we learned that she had done great throughout the night on the oxygen and we would get to take her home. We were estatic. She was going to have to stay on the oxygen for a few weeks and we would have to use a home monitor to check her saturation levels, but we didn't care. We just wanted to bring her home.
We left the hospital around 3:00 pm on May 27th. She finally got to put on a real outfit even though they were way too big for her. Zack had decorated the house with pink streamers and balloons and signs. It was a happy day.
posted by Monica at
3:45 PM
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