Rishayla also made a visit to the NICU, but a very brief one. Her stay lasted approximately five hours. Much better than the 2 weeks her older sister had lived there for. Why?
She was a bit sleepy from the Fentanyl I’d been given. This was to be expected; not a huge deal. However, she was also sounding very, very mucousy and congested-like. Even though she got the routine, post-birth aspirator suction, her little body was still full of mucous. So, off to the NICU she went, only for observation.
My thoughts on being back in the NICU? Because Rishayla was only there for observation, that was fine. Despite Jhyelle’s unfortunate health issues at birth, the overall NICU experience was still good. Very attentive staff and they cared for the babies. Parents have 24 hour access to the NICU, either in person or by telephone—and they encourage this. The observation room was separate from the other babies. She was suctioned a number of times. They would stick a tube in her nose and suction with a machine. Then someone got smart, and realized that they could still get a decently powerful suction from holding the machine just under her nose, as opposed to inside her nose, which was now causing some minor bleeding. She also received an IV port during her stay, for a couple preventative medication doses.
The dry hospital air did nothing to help with her mucous state. Whenever Rishayla gets really fussy, her breathing sounds a bit congested. Thankfully, her lungs are all clear though, so no major worries. They say that she should clear out on her own over time. I can use the aspirator at home, as well as some saline drops to help soften things up.
The medication drama. When babies are born, they’re really small and, for the most part, sleepy and easy going. It’s the adults in the outer world that add to the drama. She was given prescribed two medications because I’d tested positive for Group B Strep. One of the medications (I found out later) carries a risk of deafness if it stays in the body too long. This same medication is also a diuretic. But would Rishayla pee?? Barely. And the nurses were on her case about that. When you consider that she’s barely eating for the first little bit post-birth (their tummies are super tiny!), it’s no wonder that poop & pee are hard to come by for some babies. She’d have some dirty diapers, but very little wet mixed in, or none at all during some checks. And so the staff was starting to get worried. There was talk of supplementing her with formula to help increase her urination. I was so not good with that idea. Then there was talk of giving her an iv fluid drip. Turns out, they don’t do that on the ward (no one has the training) only the in the NICU. However, the NICU was all full and so that next thing would be to airlift her to another hospital out of province. ALL THIS FOR SOME PEE?? Finally it was decided to give her a bit of sugar water, after I nursed her. This way we weren’t messing with the growing nursing relationship. For the record, the sugar water didn’t help much either. When Rishayla’s doctor stopped in the following day, she chewed out the staff for their unreasonable measures. The Doctor thought it was unreasonable to expect a newborn to have 2 medium sized pees within 8 hours. So, after some words, she cancelled the next dose of that medication. She wasn’t too worried about Rishayla as it was. Of course when we got home, she had no issues peeing whatsoever. Change of environment does a baby good.
IV port drama. Rishayla had a port for her medications, so that they wouldn’t have to stick her with separate needles for each dose. Apparently finding a good vein was an issue. When I got her back, they’d tried twice on one arm, once on the other and once on a foot. The finally inserted it into her other foot. Then at one point on Saturday, the line became interstitial (thanks for the new word, Dai!), meaning it because useless. She ended up getting a dose of a medication in both thighs simultaneously before they sent her back to the NICU for them to insert a new port.
I’m glad that I was feeling well enough to handle all this drama. Physically, this was the best I’d ever felt post-partum, of the three girls. I was glad that none of this hindered us from going home on time. I’m also very glad for a magnificent pediatrician who stands up for the patient. That makes all the difference in the world.