Janie Beth's NICU Stay

I never dreamed my baby would end up in the NICU after such an easy pregnancy and an even easier delivery. But here is what happened.

The day after she was born she had a choking spell. She was trying to cough up mucus and it was too thick and she could not get it up. She turned blue and could not breathe. Some how mommy instinct chimed in and I got the bulb and started sucking it out while Ben and my parents called  yelled for nurses. They whisked Janie Beth away and did some test and brought her back to us and assured us it happens all the time and she was fine. After a lot of loving and kissing on her we felt better. Then the day we were supposed to go home she had another choking spell around 10:30am. I did the same thing with the bulb and Ben wasn't in there so I was yelling for help and trying to get my baby breathing again. The nurses flew in and whisked her away again, and once again they brought her back and told me she was fine. But, our gut instinct was she wasn't fine. Then, we had Janie Beth in her car seat about to leave and she had ANOTHER one. We then insisted that something else was wrong and we did not feel comfortable taking her home. We called our pediatrician and she ordered Janie Beth not be discharged and for her to stay another night and she was going to come see her first thing in the morning. Well, during our conversation with her Janie Beth had another choking spell and they sent her straight to the NICU. BROKE MY HEART but I knew she was in better hands and was going to be watched 24/7. Also, thank you to our wonderful day nurse she was able to get us a room right beside the NICU that night so I didn't have to leave the hospital!

She was admitted into the NICU on Friday July 24th and had to stay there for 5 days as long as she didn't have another choking spell. It was so hard having to wash my hands up to my elbows for three minutes and put on a gown just to see and hold Janie Beth. It was even harder leaving her there every night. Lets just say a lot of tears was shed!

Every day she had several test done. And every day she had a new bandage from where they had to draw blood. It was so sad to see her go through all that and I wasn't there for her (mommy guilt was on full force). We spent as much time with her as possible and I am sure the NICU nurses got tired of seeing Ben and me and our families.  We had awesome nurses and we grew very close with them during our stay there. They made it a LITTLE easier leaving her each night.

So far all of her test kept coming back normal and she hasn't had any more choking spells. Which was great news but we still wanted answers as to why she had the choking spells to begin with. Well, we were told the whole time that she would be discharged on Thursday, July 30th and we would room in with her Wednesday night. So Wednesday I decided to come home for the first time since I went into labor (we stayed in a hotel room close to the hospital the whole time she was in the NICU) to get the house ready and wash some clothes. Right before we were about leave the house and head back to the hospital we got a call from the NICU doctor. She told us that the EEG they did had some high level of activity on it and that she needs to stay one more night. There were the tears again. We went back to see Janie Beth and feed her and stayed in the hotel another night. 

     





Finally, Thursday rolled around and she was still doing great in the NICU and we were getting the all clear that she can come home the next day. Thursday night we stayed in the hospital with her and that was a long night of loud noises and the room only had one twin size bed for both Ben and me! 

FINALLY on Friday morning, July 31st, the NICU doctor came in and said she can come home and had started the discharge papers... cue tears again! Around noon is when we were discharged and we couldn't get out the hostial/parking lot quickly but safely. 

Don't get me wrong, we are very grateful for every doctor and nurse that helped us and Janie Beth but it was time to bring our girl home!