NICU

Everything went so smoothly with the delivery and we were so grateful considering how anxious I had been. However, that night my nurse noticed that his breathing seemed a bit labored. She took him to the nursery to have him checked out while I slept. In the morning when his pediatrician came in to do the newborn exam, the nurse explained what she had observed and the dr. checked him out very carefully. He came in to talk to me and explained that he had the baby have x-rays and an echo had been ordered because he noticed a heart murmur. Turns out he had a lung infection and pulmonary hypertension. The dr. said that it probably wasn't because he was early, that some babies just have a hard time "transitioning" and the lung infection could have been related to the really bad cough I had. I was so afraid for my baby and I was so grateful that Matt was there. I called him and he came and brought our good friend, Ryan Eggett, to give him a blessing. By this time, the baby was in the NICU and was hooked up to a bunch of monitors and had a tube in his nose. I can't explain the pain I felt looking at my poor little baby in that state. I knew he was in good hands but I was so afraid. Over the course of the next few days, I tried to recover while my baby was doing the same. Matt had to leave to go back to Hilo on Tuesday morning. It was so hard to have him leave but I knew the girls needed him back home and he had to go back to work for another two weeks. I was discharged on Wednesday and luckily the hospital offers boarding to breastfeeding mothers whose babies are in the NICU. I was able to stay in an empty hospital room so I could be available to feed him on demand. Heidi took care of my boys (she's really earned her angel wings) while I spent a lot of time feeding the baby and resting. I had been so upset about leaving the hospital without him so I was really grateful for this opportunity to stay near him. After several more echos and a full found of antibiotics, he was cleared to go home on Sunday. Hallelujah!! I was so happy and yet so nervous. I was afraid I wouldn't notice a problem with his breathing until it was too late. As you can see, I worry excessively. I'm too much like my dad sometimes :-).

Oh by the way, finally on Wednesday as I was preparing to get discharged, I called Matt and told him we had to name the baby since they were harassing me to fill out the papers before I left. He finally gave in (not sure if it was because he felt bad for all I'd gone through or if he just couldn't come up with something he liked) and we named him Christian J Haslam. I would have been okay with Cameron but I really felt like he was supposed to be Christian.

We got home and Heidi had set up Clara's room so I could stay in there and not have to navigate stairs yet. Heidi proceeded to take excellent care of me and got to have lots of snuggles with the baby. She kept saying it was like being a grandma and she loved it. Christian continued to have problems with jaundice but eventually that resolved and he has had almost no problems. I took him in for a cardiology apt. before we came back to Hawaii and most of his heart issues are resolved although there are some things that we'll have to continue to monitor. He has something called ptosis which is a drooping of his eyelid but the dr. felt like it wouldn't be much of a problem and may resolve itself as he gets older and the muscles get stronger. He's a healthy, happy, sweet, incredibly beautiful boy and I am so in love with him. I am so grateful that we were in Utah and he was able to get the care he needed and that we were able to have so much family support.