As soon as they took Julia to the NICU I wanted to get in touch with someone to get her a priesthood blessing. I didn't have many numbers in my phone so I texted my Relief Society president and she got in touch with the Bishop, who came right to the hospital with his wife and a recently returned missionary. They gave me a blessing of strength and healing and peace, then went to the nursery with Jason to give my sweet baby a blessing. It made me feel so much better. Because I was alone in my hospital room (Jason was with Julia), the Bishop's wife offered to bring us some food and stay with me. Such a blessing. She brought us delicious sandwiches and grapes and pasta which I ate over the next 20 hours. I was desperate to get up and out of that bed so I think I kinda rushed the process. I asked for the IV to be disconnected and the epidural line to be removed and had a nurse help me to the bathroom. Unfortunately I passed out a few times during the process and got a little scolding from the doctor for not being careful. Once they got be back in bed they put me back on IV fluids and finally let me eat. I could only stomach some grapes at first, but throughout the night and the next day I was able to eat!
Remember, she had aspirated meconium. Because there was so much meconium in my water she had likely been soaking in it (and breathing it in) for quite awhile. Her cord was a nasty green color and her finger and toe nails were tinted brown.
From the time they took her from my room at 5:00 until about 8:00 Jason was spending most of his time with Julia but would come and check on me periodically. He took lots of pictures and videos and sent them to me. I was so grateful for him... I hadn't really been able to see her so I loved those pictures and looked at them over and over and over and over for the next 24 hours.
I didn't hear much about how she was doing at first; my nurse had warned me that there was a chance that she would have to be transferred to another hospital with a better equipped NICU. Around 8:00 pm Jason came and told me that the pediatrician had decided that she needed to be transferred and that he (the doctor) had started making the arrangements. I was so sad; I had yet to spend any time with my baby girl and now she was going to another hospital altogether.
The hospital she would be going to has a special ambulance and ambulance team for very sick babies; when the team got to our hospital they decided to intubate her. She was on 80% oxygen through the nose cannula (we breathe 21%), which is a lot. They put IVs in both her hands and gave her some painkillers to make her more comfortable. She also had an umbilical line. Before they took her to the ambulance they brought her to my room so I could see her real quick. That was the absolute hardest part of the night; I immediately broke down in tears. She was in a closed portable incubator, hooked up to a bunch of tubes. It was really hard for me to see. Thank goodness Jason was there to comfort me.
They took her to the other hospital via ambulance at around 10:00 pm and Jason drove the 45 minutes to the hospital to make sure she got settled in. Phones aren't allowed in the NICU so I next heard from Jason around 1:30 am. Baby girl was kicking butt! She was already down from 80% oxygen to 38%. He hung out with her a bit longer then came back to my hospital room for the rest of the night.
We called her nurse the next morning (Sunday, July 19, 2015) at 10:00 am and got the news that she was down to 25% oxygen!
I was discharged at around 2:30 pm. We went home real quick to feed the dog and then headed to the hospital (about a 30 minute drive) to see baby girl. By the time we got there at 5:00 pm the breathing tube had been removed and she wasn't on any oxygen at all. She had ripped the IVs out of her hands so they placed a PIC line in her foot. She had heart rate, respiration, and pulse ox monitors. She was receiving "food" through the line (lipids, fluids, etc.) as well as antibiotics to fight off any possible infections caused by the meconium. (Some babies get pneumonia.)
The nurses have shift change from 6:45-8:00 so we had to leave during that time. We came back, met her night nurse (who was lovely) and I got to hold her! Aside from the 2 minutes I held her immediately after she was born this was my first time and I was in heaven. My sweet husband relaxed for the first time since she was born. He carried such a burden having his girls in two different hospitals... I know it was a relief for him to have us all together.
We left around 10:00 pm. I was about 30 hours postpartum and simply exhausted.
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