As the morning went on I was amazed how quiet Michael was and how little he complained about anything, he certainly wasn't demanding food at any time which did start to worry me slightly. Eventually a Dr came to have a look at him, not sure who called him in but as it turns out it was the right move... His resp rate was too fast and they were concerned he didn't want to eat. He was whisked away for some blood tests and an X-ray...Andy went with him as I couldn't face seeing needles being jabbed into my baby.
Eventually the Dr returned with a couple of midwives/nurses and it was 'suggested' that he could do with an overnight stay in the Special Baby Care Unit. I tried to keep calm but it really wasn't easy. How dare they suggest that there was a problem with my baby??? Thankfully we had a wonderful nurse looking after me at that point, she just hugged me which was exactly what I needed at that point. About 20 minutes after Micheal was wheeled away she took both of us over to see him. Luckily it was very close to where I was and I was ready to get away from the ward as the bed opposite me had about 10 visitors making one hell of a noise, including a small child screaming constantly. My one redeeming thought was how much bigger than all the other babies Michael was, plus he was still in his plastic tray/crib and not an incubator. If they had put him in one of those I think I would have grabbed him and run.
The Special care nurse looking after him was lovely, and after I'd been moved to a side room that evening came in to find me and I was back in the unit that night feeding and cuddling him. That hardest thing for me was the thought that I felt sidelined - he wasn't my baby any more and had muh better/higher qualified people looking after him so didn't need me anymore.
From what I'd been told I was expecting Michael back on Tuesday morning...unfortunately that didn't happen as he started to turn orange - Jaundice. I also had this when I was born so by Tuesday afternoon he was esconced under a blue light with a mask over his eyes. By now I was stating to get closer to freaking out again...I remembered Andy getting 'annoyed' when I was ill 2 years ago - I went in with one thing and they kept finding more, which seemed to be what was happening with Michael.
By Wednesday the light had gone and Michael was moved into a different nursery - basically a HDU rather than ITU where he'd started. This made me feel slightly better until the consultant started talking about a 5 day antibiotic course which would keep him until Friday. I also managed to get really wound up by a midwife which resulted in me phoning Andy in a total panic and he had to come in and calm me down again...we both retreated to SCBU and just cuddled Michael - always a good thing. I think I got back to the ward just after midnight but was back in the SCBU just after 7 the following morning. I don't think I left there much after that - until I finally let a midwife examine me. The next thing I knew a Dr was checking me and I was then prescribed horsepill sized antibiotics as I had an infection and was running myself down as well.
Thankfully my wonderful staff nurse was back on duty and she kept both Andy and I sane for the next couple of days - especially when she told me my nemesis was not going to be on duty again that week. She got very good at finding me on SCBU when she needed to inject me or force me to take my horsepills!
By Saturday morning I was beginning to feel that we were never getting away - from the beginning of my pregnancy I'd been having nightmares where the hospital refused to let me take the baby home. It was starting to feel more and more real/likely and I was terrified. But the consulatant on duty over the weekend felt Michael was nearly ready to go (he had another session under the blue lights but his bilirubin levels started to fall nicely!) and I shoudl do one more night on the unit 'rooming in' once a room was free. Unfortunately no other baby got discharged so I stayed out where I was. By Sunday I was allowed to take him back with me to the ward to room in there with a view to going home on Monday!!!! I had the biggest grin ever at that point and poor Dr Martin nearly got flattened with a hug!
I can honestly say I hardly slept on Sunday night, I as far to busy watching Michael! I was totally packed by 6.30 Monday morning and ready to go home! All I needed was Michael to be checked and me discharged! Michael was 'done' by 11.00 and the Drs decided I was allowed to go - we then just waited to get my notes etc back and at 12 were told it would be 10-15 minutes... we left at about 1pm! But without the remainder of my antibiotics - Andy had to go back in the afternoon to pick those up! But Michael seemed to enjoy being in the car - no screaming or crying and we mastered fitting the seat fairly easily!
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