Our Little Man's First Two Weeks

On Sunday, September 20th at 5:45 p.m., I was walking around outside when my water broke. I wasn't really sure that's exactly what happened, but I called the doctor's office and they said, "Yep, sounds like you're about to have a baby. Go on to the hospital!" So we checked into the hospital at 8:00 p.m. (I had to shower, of course! LOL). I was dilated to 1cm. The doctor started me on Pitocin at 12:00 because I didn't dilate any more. By 1:30, I had dilated to 2cm, so they gave me an epidural (the BEST THING EVER). At 7:00 a.m. I had fully dilated to 10cm, and by about 7:20 started pushing. Oh, that was a long two hours! Our little man was born on September 21st at 9:34 a.m. He was 7 pounds 10 ounces and 18 3/4" long. The nurses had to take him to get oxygen because he wasn't breathing as well as they wanted him to, but was soon able to return to us. When we were released from the hospital on Wednesday, he had a bilirubin level of 12, which was high (that's jaundice). They sent him home with a “Bili Blanket”, a pad that lights up just like the phototherapy he received in the hospital. Skeet was very sleepy at home, and wouldn’t eat very much. Friday we went to the pediatrician, where they drew blood. The results took about an hour, and we had already gotten back home. The doctor’s office called and said that his blilrubin level was at 18 and we needed to go to the hospital. We were so upset; we flew to the hospital. As soon as we got there, the nurses put him back under the phototherapy lights and drew more blood. At this point, his bili level was up to 20. They had told us at one point that a level of 21 could cause brain damage, so we were hysterical. However, the nurses reassured us that they had babies in there with levels as high as 25 that did fine. So by the next morning, Skeet’s bili level had gone back down to 18, then 12, and finally by Saturday evening it was at a 9. A miracle! Sunday morning it was still at 9, but the doctor said at his age, 9 was okay now (the older they are, the higher the level babies can handle). We were ready to be discharged Sunday morning when the nurse came in and said that his urine culture came back positive for Staph. What next?!?! They said it may have just been contaminated, so they took another sample and put him on antibiotics. The culture took 24 hours, so we had to stay til Monday. It was negative, thank God. So we got to finally bring little Skeet home Monday afternoon. It’s been crazy ever since. He’s such a good baby, but he eats all the time! He doesn’t mind his baths, but hates to have his diapers changed! His daddy and I love him more than we ever could have imagined. His color is much improved, and we go back to the doctor tomorrow for his two week check-up. The first two weeks of his life have just flown by!