Take Me Back Tuesday

July 18-28th, 2001

My son was born 5 weeks early 8 years ago. Ian knew he needed to be here. He knew that if he got much bigger in my belly he might not have made it. After I gave birth we found out there not 1, but 2 true KNOTS in the umbilical cord. We were very lucky parents. He was 6lbs 8oz. They let me see & hold him briefly after he was born, but then whisked him away to the NICU. I must say this now, he never had a problem breathing, never needed any meds and was the largest baby in the NICU. But to be on the safe side they wanted to monitor him. I was good with that...until the nightmare began...

(just a warning, I try and keep my blog light and airy...but I also feel the need to share the story behind these photos and how they make me feel.)

First off they never gave me, my family or my son's pediatrician a straight answer on why he was in the NICU or how long we could expect him to be there. Typically a Dr. from the pediatrician's office you choose comes into the hospital in the morning after you give birth. Well, mine never came because he was never called...yes I gave them all the info and they lied and told me they called him when they did not. A nurse (who also takes her children to his office) called his office after I inquired about it. When the pediatrician came to see me, he asked me what was wrong with Ian because there was nothing in his chart and after looking at him he could not find anything wrong. So for 10 days we trekked to the hospital to see Ian. They kept telling us he was having apnea and bradycardia spells. These spells never lasted, never needed intervention, nor did they happen often, nor did I or my family ever witness one. And yes, I was there alot! Not sure if you can see, but there is a tube in my son's nose in a few of the above photos. It was a feeding tube. They said he was eating to slowly (they were timing him) and was tiring himself out. Um....I have had 2 babies and have watched MANY more. I had seen quick eaters, slow eaters and frequent eaters. My son happened to be a slow eater when it came to bottles (I pumped and brought in milk...I happened to have tons of milk). Yep, could have feed 8 babies...found out that from a lactation consultant in the pediatricians office weeks later. Ok, didn't mind the tube so much...but what bothered me is that when I fed him they then pulled the contents up through that tube, measured it and then pushed it back into his tummy. I am not going to go into details about the nurses. There were a couple there that should not be able to speak to people. I do understand that they see mainly really sick babies, they should really learn how to talk to people especially new parents. I am also not going to share my experience with breastfeeding and how they (ppl at the hospital) were not very supportive.
In order to take our son home, my husband, myself and my son had to spend the night in the hospital in a room that looked like a hotel room. My son would be coming home on a breathing monitor that he would stay on 24/7 for at least a month. My mother & I met with the breathing monitor company's rep and they showed us how to put on the monitor. We then watched as they placed the monitor on my son 24 hours before he left the hospital. It would have been fine if they would have put the leads on correctly. They put them on across from each other instead of staggered. NO ONE noticed that it was on INCORRECT. My son was seen by more than one DR. and lots of nurses within that 24hr period. So what happens when you put the leads across from each other?...TONS of false spells!! The first few nights at home with my son were a nightmare. The machine went off all the time and I thought there was really something drastically wrong with my child. I got no sleep and my son got no sleep because I kept waking him up when it would go off. I turned into a fruit cake, thinking my son was going to die. A rep from the monitor company came out and took one look at the leads and knew what was wrong. Within a few days of that, no spells, talking to my pediatrician and a lactation consultant...I called the monitor company and told them to come and pick up the monitor. There was no way I was going to pay money (it was alot, too) to have them read that damn thing....especially after the rep told me the information on it was useless. While I can understand erring on the side of caution...what happened in this hospital was totally uncalled for and left a bad taste in my mouth. Also, I picked my OBGYN because I wanted to deliver my child at that hospital and I also had 2 previous surgeries at that hospital. While I LOVED my OB, she did not deliver anywhere but there. So when I got pregnant with my daughter I found a new OBGYN and gave birth at a different hospital, which was a much better experience.


In the past 8 years my son has meet all of his milestones and has never had any sign of being a preemie. We have joked since then that "I just cook them faster than other people." My daughter was 3 weeks and 1 day early and weighed 7lb 4oz.



If you are still reading, thank you for stopping by this installment of Take Me Back Tuesday. I promise next week will be lighter. =P
I entered this photo in a contest. Please go on over here and vote for me, Whimsical Creations. Thanks a bunch!

You can participate and/or check out other Take Me Back Tuesday posts at A Giveaway Addicted Mommy.