Parents, you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.

Or just as likely, we’ve got questions and you’ve got answers.

Challenge: NICU Parenting

Emilia

0
Vote up!
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email this article

Our baby spent her first 10 days in NICU. Emilia was born at 10:54 pm on 7/17/17. She was only 17.5" long and just under 6 lbs, our little peanut. Our first 24 hours with her in our hospital room were exhausting as any new parent can attest. At 11:00pm on the 18th our Emilia was brought to the nursery for her 24 hour screening, first bath and foot prints. My husband chose to catch up on some Much needed sleep as the photographer momma in me couldn't miss these firsts. With camera in tow I followed the nurse and my baby to the nursery. Once we arrived Emilia had her footprints done, hearing test and other screenings. This is when I learned her oxygen levels were low and further testing would need to be done later in the morning. As the nurse took Emilia for her bath I began taking pictures. A short time later the NP asked me if my baby had been breathing unusually all day. I was not aware of what she meant. The NP proceeded to check her vital records from the day and consult with our on call pediatrician. In the mean time, I was overdue for my pain medication and was whisked away back to our room leaving Emilia in the nursery. I entered our room to find my husband sound asleep, even snoring a little. Within minutes of being back in our room it quickly became a buzz. Emilia had been rushed to the NICU due to experiencing a dusky spell. My child had turned gray! We were asked, "do you want to come with us now or should we come back and get you?" My husband and I quickly followed the nurse, we were so scared and utterly confused about what could be wrong with our seemingly perfect baby. Our team of nurses are amazing and made a very scary situation less scary. It took a few days to be diagnosed with PPHN of a newborn. We were lucky to be able to get a boarding room at our hospital and visit our baby as often as we wanted. We were encouraged to hold her and spend as much time as we wanted with our baby. We are truly grateful for our amazing NICU team and can never thank them enough for everything they did for us.

This post comes from the TODAY Parenting Team community, where all members are welcome to post and discuss parenting solutions. Learn more and join us! Because we're all in this together.