Gabriel's First Week of Life
Six days ago, Gabriel William was born. He was only 1lb 5oz and 11.5 in long, but so far he's doing really well. He was born at 23 weeks 4 days gestation, so his poor little body has quite the journey ahead of him until he'll be ready to come home, but all of the doctors and nurses say that he's doing as well as they can realistically expect a 23 week baby to be doing. Since it's going to be a long journey, I decided to start this blog, to keep a record of this journey.
Gabriel was born Wednesday morning, December 16, at 7:04. When he was born, he was instantly handed off to the NICU and we had no idea if he was going to survive, since he was showing up so early. After a half hour the nurse came in and said that they'd gotten him breathing and he was actually doing really well. She even took my phone and took a picture. He was covered in plastic to protect his skin, but he was perfect.
Two hours later, after the medications and epidural had mostly worn off, we got to see him. He had a tube down his throat and he was sleeping, but the doctor told us that he was doing really well. He even wrapped his little hand around my finger.
Later that night, they took the tube out and put him on a nasal breathing machine. The doctor said that they will likely put the tube back in at some point, but at this point, he was doing well enough to not need it. He was even just breathing humid room air, rather than having additional oxygen. They had put in an umbilical catheter, but the ventricular catheter wasn't placed in the best place. They put in a pic line instead and were able to get it on the first try.
Thursday he struggled to breath just a bit more. They had to turn on a bit of extra oxygen, but that only lasted for a day or so. They also started feeding him breastmilk. The doctor said that he was doing so well, that she was afraid to tell him that he was only a 23 weeker, for fear that he'd start acting like one! Pat's parents came to visit us at the hospital, and Nancy got to meet Gabriel for the first time.
Friday I was discharged from the hospital, which made it a rather hard day for me. After you have a baby, you're supposed to take your baby with you, not leave him behind at the hospital. But Gabe had a good day.
Saturday my Mom came to visit and got to meet her first grandson. We also got the news that they'd done an echo-cardiogram and found that the flap in Gabe's heart closed correctly. It often doesn't close on preemies, but his looks good.
Sunday we had a bit of a scare. Right before we left the hospital to take my Mom to the airport, Gabriel's heart rate and oxygen rate dropped. The nurses came in and readjusted his nasal cannula and chin strap and everything came back up. We left the hospital a bit alarmed, but not overly concerned.
Monday, Uncle Nathan and Auntie Cassie came to visit since they had a layover. Gabriel was doing good when we got there, but he was having a lot of episodes where he was forgetting to breath, which would drop his oxygen saturation and his pulse. The longer we were there, the more frequently it was happening, which freaked Pat and I out. The doctors said that there were likely three reasons that this was happening: his body was exhausted from trying to remember to breath (which is common in preemies. Their bodies just aren't ready to remember everything quite yet), the valve in his heart had popped open or he had an infection. To be safe, they changed his breathing machine to one that monitored the diaphram and could stimulate the machine if he wasn't breathing and they started him on antibiotics. They also did another echo-cardiogram and determined that his heart still looked good. They did two blood draws and put in an IV as well, so they could culture his blood. Once he got on the new machine, things got a lot better. The episodes went way down and his breathing stabilized a lot. By the time that Pat and I left the hospital, he actually seemed stable again, rather than struggling to breath.
Today we were only able to be at the hospital for a short time. But his breathing has still been stable, which is really good news. They did have to do a blood transfusion. Apparently babies don't have the ability to make their own blood cells until they're closer to 40 weeks, so the only blood that he has is what's already in his body. Since they've had to draw a lot for testing, he's been running low. So, he was going to get a little extra. The doctor also said that his blood culture came back positive for infection, but they haven't yet figured out what the infection in. We should get that result back tomorrow. If it's a contaminate from the skin, then it isn't a huge deal, but if it's an actual blood infection, then they'll probably have to take out his PIC line. They're also going to take out his umbilical lines, as that's another possible source of infection. So, we'll know more tomorrow. The good news is that he's stabilized now and breathing well.
And all of that has happened in the first week of his life. It's strange to think that a week ago right now, we were trying to hold off the contractions and leave him in there as long as possible.
Gabriel was born Wednesday morning, December 16, at 7:04. When he was born, he was instantly handed off to the NICU and we had no idea if he was going to survive, since he was showing up so early. After a half hour the nurse came in and said that they'd gotten him breathing and he was actually doing really well. She even took my phone and took a picture. He was covered in plastic to protect his skin, but he was perfect.
Two hours later, after the medications and epidural had mostly worn off, we got to see him. He had a tube down his throat and he was sleeping, but the doctor told us that he was doing really well. He even wrapped his little hand around my finger.
Later that night, they took the tube out and put him on a nasal breathing machine. The doctor said that they will likely put the tube back in at some point, but at this point, he was doing well enough to not need it. He was even just breathing humid room air, rather than having additional oxygen. They had put in an umbilical catheter, but the ventricular catheter wasn't placed in the best place. They put in a pic line instead and were able to get it on the first try.
Thursday he struggled to breath just a bit more. They had to turn on a bit of extra oxygen, but that only lasted for a day or so. They also started feeding him breastmilk. The doctor said that he was doing so well, that she was afraid to tell him that he was only a 23 weeker, for fear that he'd start acting like one! Pat's parents came to visit us at the hospital, and Nancy got to meet Gabriel for the first time.
Friday I was discharged from the hospital, which made it a rather hard day for me. After you have a baby, you're supposed to take your baby with you, not leave him behind at the hospital. But Gabe had a good day.
Saturday my Mom came to visit and got to meet her first grandson. We also got the news that they'd done an echo-cardiogram and found that the flap in Gabe's heart closed correctly. It often doesn't close on preemies, but his looks good.
Sunday we had a bit of a scare. Right before we left the hospital to take my Mom to the airport, Gabriel's heart rate and oxygen rate dropped. The nurses came in and readjusted his nasal cannula and chin strap and everything came back up. We left the hospital a bit alarmed, but not overly concerned.
Monday, Uncle Nathan and Auntie Cassie came to visit since they had a layover. Gabriel was doing good when we got there, but he was having a lot of episodes where he was forgetting to breath, which would drop his oxygen saturation and his pulse. The longer we were there, the more frequently it was happening, which freaked Pat and I out. The doctors said that there were likely three reasons that this was happening: his body was exhausted from trying to remember to breath (which is common in preemies. Their bodies just aren't ready to remember everything quite yet), the valve in his heart had popped open or he had an infection. To be safe, they changed his breathing machine to one that monitored the diaphram and could stimulate the machine if he wasn't breathing and they started him on antibiotics. They also did another echo-cardiogram and determined that his heart still looked good. They did two blood draws and put in an IV as well, so they could culture his blood. Once he got on the new machine, things got a lot better. The episodes went way down and his breathing stabilized a lot. By the time that Pat and I left the hospital, he actually seemed stable again, rather than struggling to breath.
Today we were only able to be at the hospital for a short time. But his breathing has still been stable, which is really good news. They did have to do a blood transfusion. Apparently babies don't have the ability to make their own blood cells until they're closer to 40 weeks, so the only blood that he has is what's already in his body. Since they've had to draw a lot for testing, he's been running low. So, he was going to get a little extra. The doctor also said that his blood culture came back positive for infection, but they haven't yet figured out what the infection in. We should get that result back tomorrow. If it's a contaminate from the skin, then it isn't a huge deal, but if it's an actual blood infection, then they'll probably have to take out his PIC line. They're also going to take out his umbilical lines, as that's another possible source of infection. So, we'll know more tomorrow. The good news is that he's stabilized now and breathing well.
And all of that has happened in the first week of his life. It's strange to think that a week ago right now, we were trying to hold off the contractions and leave him in there as long as possible.
I have been thinking and praying for you since I heard the news. I know this is a long road for you, but you are not forgotten!
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