...Then Comes an Extended Stay in a VERY Expensive Hotel with Scratchy Towels

~The continued story of Ruby Geraldine Fuller~

9.12.09 ~ Ruby 1 Day Old

At 4am the nurse came in our room to take Ruby down to the nursery. She wanted to weigh her and check her vitals (listen to her heart beat and lungs, take her blood pressure...). Jon and I had already decided we weren't comfortable with her going to the nursery by herself and one of us would go with her. (When we had Sawyer, he never had to leave our room because they did all the follow up's with us right there... A MUCH better scenario!) Jon went with her while I stayed and tried to sleep a little more.

About a half hour later Jon came back to get me. The nurses had noticed that Ruby's breathing was very labored and her chest was retracting when she breathed. A nurse from the Special Care Nursery, Elaine, was there checking on another baby and she heard Ruby's grunting and wanted to watch her more closely... Turns out her grunting wasn't a "cute" little baby noise, RUBY COULD HARDLY BREATH! When I got to the nursery Elaine told Jon and me that a baby's normal breathing rate should be 20-50 breaths per min. Ruby was taking up to 130 breaths per minute! Elaine ordered blood work to be done and an X-ray to look at Ruby's lungs because she was concerned that Ruby may have an infection of some kind.

A nurse came to take Ruby's blood... This wasn't a little prick on the bottom of her little, teeny, tiny, precious foot... The blood work that was needed called for more blood than a small prick would provide. This was the first of many pricks my little baby endured in her little, teeny, tiny, precious veins. And, you know what a time of it some nurses have trying to take an adults blood... Well, it's the same with small babies. This nurse tried to pull blood from both of Ruby's little hands and did not have success. However, Ruby barely noticed what was happening to her... She hardly made a peep. So, the nurse called another nurse to try again.

While waiting for this other nurse, an X-ray Tech came in and took pictures of Ruby's lungs. No pain there!

The second blood taking nurse tried his best to get a good enough sample of blood, but only ended up drawing a small amount... He only poked her once though.

Then Ruby and I were sent back to our room to wait with Jon for the results.

At 7am a different nurse from the Special Care Nursery came in our room and woke us up. Ruby's lung X-ray revealed fluid in her right lung and she needed to be taken to the NIC-U for observation (at the hospital we were at they call it the Special Care Nursery, but I think the NIC-U is a more recognizable name...).

Ruby still hadn't nursed at this point. This made sense because she was trying so hard to breath that there was NO WAY she could suck and swallow as well.

So, the nurse took our little girl away... I didn't understand what was going on yet... I got in the shower, ate breakfast and then Jon and I headed to the Special Care Nursery/NIC-U (I will call this the nursery from now on because that's how I think of it).

When we got to the nursery Ruby was already hooked up to an IV that was pumping antibiotics and fluids through her body. A Neo-Natal Specialist told us what he was thinking might possibly be wrong with her. Everything he told us was a guess and would all depend on what her blood work revealed... With the fluid in her lungs, he was thinking possibly Pneumonia. If the blood work revealed there was bacteria in her system a Spinal Tap (yes, a SPINAL TAP!) would be done to determine if Ruby had Meningitis or not...

They had Ruby on antibiotics to combat anything that might POSSIBLY be in her system. The blood work would take up to 48 hours to show any results, but it could take up to 5 days for something to show... Jon and I knew we/I would be in the hospital for another 3-5 days for sure. If the blood work came back positive for bacteria, and the Spinal Tap showed Ruby had Meningitis we were looking at more like 14-21 days for treatment.

This was A LOT to absorb in just a few short minutes. Basically, the fluid in her lungs could just be there because she was a preemie and they just needed more time to develop... Or, it could mean something worse. Something that could take 3 to 21+ days to cure. We would just be waiting, waiting and waiting...

Jon and I went back to our room because I still needed to be checked every few hours by a nurse to make sure I was recovering properly. I started pumping so my milk supply wouldn't be effected by Ruby not nursing. (I have a love hate relationship with the Breast Pump. Hate the process, but love the results!) For the first two days of Ruby's life she would be fed threw a feeding tube, which went in through her nose and down into her stomach, some of my breast milk and formula.

The rest of the day was spent between my room and the nursery. It was SO sad being in there with all the sick little babies... That night Jon and I stayed in my recovery room and surprisingly got a good nights sleep... This was also the first whole day I had ever gone without seeing Sawyer.

9.13.09 ~ Ruby 2 Days Old

We woke up and went down to visit Ruby.

Bad News.

The Neo-Natal Specialist told us the blood culture was showing bacteria. It would be another 24 hours before the bacteria could be classified/identified, but in the meantime a Spinal Tap would have to be done. At this point, the tears started falling again... I had to sign a release form stating that it was okay for the nurses to hold my little baby girl down, curl her into a U shape, and shove a needle into her spine and withdraw fluid... Horrible, awful. Neither Jon or I could stay for that. We could have, but I would not have been able to handle it... There is no way I wanted to have that moment imprinted in my mind.

I was discharge from the hospital that afternoon and luckily there was an extra room for me to stay in near the nursery. So, we moved all my stuff there. I continued to pump and Jon and I went back and forth from my room and visiting Ruby. At this point, she hadn't opened her eyes for more than a couple minutes at time, she still didn't cry and she barely flinched when her diaper was changed or when her IV had to be moved because her vein had died... Totally lethargic. I learned that health babies cry, and crying is a good thing... She was still taking 80-130 breaths per minute... Her body was working SO hard to just breath that all other "normal" baby movements and reactions were impossible.

My mom brought Sawyer to visit us around 3pm. We played for a while and ate some dinner. Jon, Sawyer and my mom left early that evening. Jon had to go back to work Monday morning and it was important to get some normalcy back in Sawyer's life. He had spent the last 3 nights at Grandma & Grandpa's house. I was all by myself...

That night I got to nurse Ruby and she latched on for the first time! Good news!!!

9.14.09 ~ Ruby 3 Days Old

A feeding schedule was started for Ruby every 3 hours. The first one was at 2am and she was getting little bits. She was still getting most of her feedings through the tube.

The 24 hour results came back from the Spinal Tap and were negative! The fluid need to be watched for 48 hours before it would be given the All Clear, but showing negative results at 24 hours is positive!!!

Ruby continued to be on antibiotics. Her breathing was not yet in the normal range, but it was starting to slow down. She improved on her breast feeding and was starting to show signs of a "normal" newborn! (squirming, fussing, a little crying, looking around for 20-30min at a time...) We were still waiting to see what the bacteria in her blood grew in to...

Jon and Sawyer came to visit me that evening and we went out to dinner. This was my first time out of the hospital in 4 days! It was so nice to get some fresh air.

9.15.09 ~ Ruby 4 Days Old

Ruby and I continued to work on breast feeding. On this morning I was told that since I wanted to breast feed exclusively, Ruby would have to be taking all her feedings from me and have gained weighted for two consecutive days before she could be discharged... That was just another thing added to my worries... She could be totally healthy, but if she wasn't feeding well then we'd have to stay longer. Then, I'd have to bottle feed her if I wanted to get us out of the hospital... I was positive Ruby would be a good eater, so I put my worries aside!

Another X-ray was taken of her lungs and they still had fluid in them. However, the 48 hour Spinal Tap results came back negative!!! Yipee!!!

Also, the blood work showed the bacteria to be a skin contaminant. This meant that her skin wasn't disinfected enough when her blood was drawn... They were still watching a couple other of her blood samples to see if anything showed up and would be letting me know about those the following day.

Jon came up to visit in the evening and we went out to dinner again.

9.16.09 ~ Ruby 5 Days Old

Ruby's blood work was given the All Clear! The fluid in her lungs was deemed to be there because she was delivered early and it would work it self out. Her breathing was getting closer and closer to the normal range. And, she was taken off of the antibiotics and the IV was removed!

Now, our only goal was making sure Ruby was getting enough to eat on her own... I was feeding her every 3 hours. She was weighed before each feeding and again after to see how much she was eating.

Jon and Sawyer came to visit us.

In the late evening, Ruby was allowed to leave the nursery and stay in my room with me! Ruby was given a goal for how much she needed to eat in a 12 hour time frame (8pm-8am). Her goal was 150cc's. I had a scale in my room and could weigh her myself before and after each feeding. Then, I had to call the nursery and let them know how much she ate.

9.17.09 ~ Ruby 6 Days Old

Ruby didn't make her goal in the first 12 hours (8pm-8am). She just wouldn't stay latched on long enough to get a good feeding...

That afternoon one of the Pediatrician's from the clinic I'll be taking Ruby to stopped by to talk to me. She said that she was confident that we'd do fine at home, but they are just more careful with babies who've had a rough start... So she was hopefully that we'd be discharged the next day or Saturday at the latest...

GGGGgggrrrrr! This was the day that I got frustrated. I had held it together pretty good until this point... I really wanted to go home! I missed Jon and Sawyer.

Ruby didn't reach her goal again from 8am-8pm...

I decided then that instead of waking Ruby up every 3 hours so she could eat, I was going to let her sleep as long as she needed and then feed her. This made all the difference in the world! She slept for about 3.5-4 hours at a time and when she woke up she was well rested and able to eat more! Perfect!

9.18.09 ~ Ruby 7 Days Old

Ruby kicked her goals butt that night! The same Pediatrician stopped by to see us at around 11am and said we could go home :-) :-) :-) SUPER HAPPY!!!

Then, just one more thing... When the Pediatrician was giving Ruby her final check-up before discharging us she noticed Ruby's hip was popping out of place. She told me to mention it at my follow-up appointments with Ruby so the other doctor's can pay attention to it... At this point, I told her I had Hip Dysplasia when I was born. Then, she got a little more concerned about it and said I needed to schedule an Ultra-Sound for Ruby in a couple weeks... (I'll keep you all posted on these results)

All in all, I was leaving the hospital with a healthy baby :-)

This was a good day!!!

*** Thanks to everyone who kept Ruby and our whole family in your prayers! Things could have been much, much worse... We are very, truly blessed!***

More to come on Ruby soon :-)