In the nursery

On Monday evening I had the nurse take Eli to the nursery so I could get some sleep, I also got to take my good friend Ambien. We make a good team when it comes to hospital stays. I slept really well and was looking forward to going to the nursery to pick up my son. Before I could make it to that point, Eli's ped came in for visit. He told me that when they brought him in, the nurses noticed that he was breathing really fast, for most newborns they take about 60 breaths a minute or less. Eli was taking 120. I was told that they wanted to keep him in there so they could watch him and make sure he was breathing ok. They also ordered for him to be on a liter of oxygen to help expand his lungs. Sometimes when babies are Eli's size and even though they are full term their lungs haven't caught up to their size and need a little help.


He also had fluid in his lungs which is usually only present in premature babies, and somewhat unusual in vaginal births because it helps get any excess out. So he was on an IV for antibiotics, and later for feeding because they found that his oxygen levels would drop after he would eat and he would turn a dusky color. So he was then put on an 02 sats monitor and also a respiration monitor. The reason his o2 sats would drop after eating is because he has acid reflux it took 3 days to figure it out.



As I think back on it, Eli's hospital stay is somewhat of a blur. For me it was just 4 1/2 emotionally charged days. I have heard many times of babies that have to stay in the hospital or the nicu, but I started to truly understand how traumatic it is was when it was my own child. The nurses and his ped were fantastic, even when it was crazy in there with a lot of deliveries or some babies being transferred to the nicu I always felt like someone was checking on me or putting an arm around me and offering a box of tissues. I felt like what was happening to our family was important to them and they wanted to take care of us.

We have had so many sweet and tender mercies extended to us during the past week. We have felt the Saviors love through others kind gestures, cards in the mail, help with the girls so Jed and I could go and be with Eli together, phone calls and many reminders that we were being prayed for.



The end of the day when Jed would take the girls home was always hard, Ruby would cry and tell me I need to get in my seat in the car and come home. Jed would tell me to turn around and go back into my moms house and that Ruby would be asleep in 5 minutes, and that I was where I was supposed to be. It was so hard being away from Jed and the girls and I missed home, but the thought of being 45 minutes away from Eli was unbearable. Jed was such a strength to me and basically took over the home front so I could be with our little guy.

I promised Ruby I would be home Friday night, because I knew how hard this was for not only us but also for our girls. Come home I did and it completely opened the flood gates when we walked in and I saw Eli's little bed empty. I tried to busy myself with dishes, but Jed pulled me away from them and just held me while I cried.

Thankfully we got the phone call Saturday morning that he was able to keep his 02 sats up for 24 hours and that we could come and bring our little boy home. Jed and I were a whirlwind of activity getting the girls ready and diapers bags packed. We couldn't hurry fast enough. We stayed at the hospital for 1 1/2 hours so he could have his car seat test, and make sure he could breath in his seat. He passed and we got to bring our son home.

It feels so incredibly good to be together as a family again and have some semblance of normalcy again. We are all doing really well, and loving our little bubba.