NICU Part 2

From Sunday night until Tuesday(mid morning) Paige was on bili lights, so we had very little physical contact with her. That was incredibly hard for us. Thankfully when the doctor came by for rounds Tuesday morning he felt her bili # had gone down enough that she wouldn't need to be on the lights any more! BUT, due to the possibility of her having a bacteria infection we were put on contact isolation which meant we had to wear gloves, masks and gowns whenever we were with her. BLAH! I did not like that at all! As well as the contact isolation Paige was put on oxygen Tuesday b/c every time she was feeding she would stop breathing and her heart rate would drop.(Incredibly scary to watch and hear b/c she was hooked up to machines the alarms would start going off. I still hear the alarms when I'm trying to go to sleep some times.) On Tuesday another moment happened that I will never be able to forget. It still makes me tear up just thinking about it. Around lunch time that day Mark and I were sitting with Paige when alarms started going off on a machine for the baby that was next to us. This baby was VERY sick and as soon as I heard the noises coming from his bed I knew it was bad. There was a lot of running around from nurses, yelling and alarms...I started to cry. A nurse asked Mark and I to leave as well as all the other visitors there. As I left I cried thinking that sweet little baby might not be there when I go back. About 5 hours later when we were allowed to come back in to the NICU we discovered the baby next to us was stable and okay! Praise God! But unfortunately the baby two beds down from Paige had passed away...it was unexpected and absolutely heart breaking. At least we know he's not in any pain and he's with Jesus watching over the rest of us. Tuesday was a hard day...I knew that as sick as Paige was, we were very lucky b/c it could be much worse.
Wednesday marked a big moment for Paige. I had not seen her eyes since Saturday...a little after lunch time that day I was holding her and she finally opened her eyes!! It made me, the nurses and the doctor feel much better about Paige and her recovery! Going four days without seeing your baby open her eyes was so hard and it was an amazing sight when she finally opened them!
As of Thursday all tests and cultures were still coming back negative, but when Mark and I got to the hospital that morning we were surprised by something we saw. The IV in Paige's hand had blown the vein again so they had to put an IV in her head. Bless her! She had literally been poked in every part of her body. Thursday Paige had an EKG to check her heart out to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with it causing her to be on the oxygen. After results from the test came back okay we were able to turn her oxygen down and just use it during feedings(she had been on oxygen full time ever since Wednesday morning), so that was an accomplishment too!
Friday morning when the doctor came by he brought glorious news with him! He said that all her tests were still negative and she was looking much better! So much better that he was going to let us go home Saturday!!! Music to my ears! After passing all of the tests on her checklist that would allow her to leave Saturday they let me get started with paperwork and CPR classes so that we would be able to go home as soon as possible the next day! Wohoo!! Prayers answered!
Saturday morning comes around and all I could do is thank God for taking care of Paige and getting Mark and I through this week! We didn't get to leave with Paige as early as we wanted due to having to wait on the on call doctor for the weekend to come by and give us final reports, but by 3:00pm saturday afternoon it was official...Paige was finally going home!!!!
I can't even explain how wonderful it has been to be at home with Paige as a family of four!! She has been doing great and her checkup with the pediatrician after 4 days of being home went well too! Oh and the final diagnosis for Paige is still unknown. All they can figure is that b/c her bili level had gotten so high, it made her shut down and get very sick. Thank goodness we caught it when we did b/c if their bili level gets too high it can cause brain damage.
Below are some pictures from Paige's stay at the hospital.

Please say prayers for the other babies and families that are at Chidlren's NICU! Some of them have been there for months and aren't sure when they will be able to go home. Some babies don't even have visitors to come up and love on them. We were extremely lucky and fortunate to have such a short and successful stay!