The Rest of the Story
Andrew’s arrival was quite exciting and because of the complications he was taken to the special care nursery for observation over the first night. This was really great because it allowed Louise and I both to get more rest than we would have had he been in her room, and it was already quite late. After all was said and done I didn’t get home until about 2:30 AM. I got a couple of hours of sleep and went back to the hospital for 7 AM.
Because Louise had been slightly feverish throughout the delivery, and because of the elevated heart rate they were concerned that Andrew might have an infection. Blood was taken for a bunch of tests and they started him on IV antibiotics. At this point it was pretty much a given that he would stay in the special care nursery for at least two days until results from the blood cultures were back.
In the morning when the doctors did their rounds they ordered a new round of tests including a Lumbar Puncture (LP). This was rather traumatic for the little guy and it seemed to set him off. For the rest of the day he looked pale, frail, and sickly, and we were really starting to get worried about him. Fortunately the initial results from the LP did not indicate any problems, which as I understand it basically rules out some nasty things like Meningitis. However, at this point it was pretty much assumed that he would be in the hospital for at least 5 days, and maybe longer depending on the final results of the various cultures that they were growing in the lab.
Around 7 PM that first night he suddenly seemed to snap out of it and started acting hungry. Louise was able to nurse him for around an hour and he seemed much better. His color changed from pale gray to rosy pink and he was much more alert and active! His parents were much relieved and happier too!
It has pretty much been that way since then. He has been moved out of the incubator into a regular bassinet, and Louise has been feeding him regularly. Louise is also doing very well and is feeling great. She has stayed in the hospital as an inpatient in the post-partum ward, but this was really only so that she could be near Andrew. She will likely be officially discharged today, but they do have some rooms in the special care nursery for out-patient moms to stay in while they are breast-feeding. There are only a couple however and they are prioritized by need. Because Andrew is feeding well (he seems to be a real breast-man and doesn’t seem to like the bottle) they want to keep Louise in there as long as possible!
Anyway, that pretty much catches you up to date. We hope to be able to take Andrew home on Thursday!
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Posted by Sean on April 30th, 2007
Categories: Photography
Tags: Andrew, Baby, Family, Hospital, Louise, Stick
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