Stork Bites and Angel Kisses

Our Little Man Jack

Jack was born on Sunday, February 15th at 11:00 AM
He was 8 lb. 15 oz. and 21 1/2 inches long

Quite a baby, a BIG baby!

Dan has been so good to post pictures on our blog and Facebook, but here I am to tell you about our little boy and his stay at the hospital.

After Jack was born, we had about 1 1/2 hours in the labor room to spend time with him. I held him for quite a while, with Dan at my side calling friends and family with the good news. My mom and sister Miriam came to the hospital, and Dan got to hold the baby while I took a shower. Things were wonderful, I was feeling great, we were oohing and ahhing over our big baby, and we were thrilled he looked like a "Jack."



While I was in the shower, Jack decided to hold his breath and he turned blue. The nurse took Jack over to the corner where they weighed him, and got him breathing again. I was getting dressed, and I only overheard the nurses say that they were going to take him to the NICU, everyone was SO calm so I didn't panic. I came out of the bathroom and they were getting him ready to go. They said that they were going to just watch him for a little while. Dan went with Jack and the nurses, my mom and Miriam came with me and the nurse to our room.


That was the beginning. Jack spent the week in the NICU. Sunday night we met with the neo-natologist and he explained that what he was seeing through x-rays and blood-gas tests was that his lungs were not completely expanding. Jack had insufficient levels of surfactant which helped him inflate his lungs. It was taking him too much work to breathe, so he just decided not to. Who can blame him?

They started by putting him on a breathing tube with room air (21% oxygen.) Then they increased the oxygen in the air to 40%. That seemed to help, but they decided he needed a little extra pressure so they put a C-PAP contraption on his head- it was like a baby headgear that would give him the 40% air at 5 liters (per something-not quite sure.) He also had an IV put in so that he was getting a glucose solution. All of this by Sunday night when the Doctor met with us. Seemed like a lot to handle, but the Doctor said that most babies with this insufficient surfactant would solve itself within 24-48 hours and there would be no long term effects. We felt good about everything, a little overwhelmed and just a little sad that we would go to our room alone, with no baby to keep us awake, no baby to feed, and no baby to just stare at because everything he did was so cute.
Dan and my dad gave baby Jack a blessing, Dan's parents arrived (they drove up from North Carolina all day), and things were ok, only ok.




As the days went on, things just kept getting better...
His C-PAP was decreased to 4 liters. Also down to room air.
C-PAP was removed. He was put back on his nasal-canula with only 2 liter pressure, room air.
He was weened off of his glucose solution, I was pumping so we were feeding him by bottle. I got to breastfeed Monday night.
Tuesday the Doctor gave the go-ahead for his circumcision. He also told us that "Jack is ready to be a real boy!" I guess that meant we could start taking him off of things, or to be circumcised. Still not totally sure.
Tuesday night he was completely weened from everything, just being monitored.

Wednesday morning, Doctor told us that "if he behaved" he could come home Thursday morning. Then...
Wednesday morning he was circumcised, + given tylenol. (I think he may have been mad at us-he decided not to pee and didn't have much interest in feeding either, just sleepy.)
He had a couple spit-ups Wed late morning so he was given baby zantac. :(
He was also really stuffy from having the nasal canula in for two days, so he was having a hard time breathing while he was eating so... back on the oxygen tube to add humidity (his own personal humidifier) + little nose drops. :(
(They took a chest x-ray and did another blood-gas test and both looked good, so this was just a hic-cup in the road.)



None of this was regressing, just a tough day for our little man Jack. It also meant he could not come home on Thursday morning. Boy, this hit me hard. This was my worst day. :(

The good news... everything seemed to help. By Wednesday night he was much clearer, feeding great again, not spitting up, etc. He was just our playful baby. :)

Thursday morning, we saw the Doctor and he said that Jack wanted another chance at "Being a Real Boy!" Within minutes, his humidifier was out and he was back to normal. No tubes! He said that "if he behaved" he could come home on Friday. (Does this sound at all familiar? I guess everything seemed more probable this time around-but we were much more realistic about how to handle the day. Hope for the best, be prepared for the worst.)

We gave him a bath later that morning.



All of Thursday was great. He was feeding, he was happy. He was peeing and pooping, ALOT!!! It was looking good. We went to bed Thursday night feeling like it was Christmas Eve. We brought our baby clothes and seat inside so it could defrost (it had been in the car all week long.)

Some of you may wonder, where have we been? Well, I obviously decided to stay my full 2 days at the hospital and the nurses up there told me about "guest stay" where the hospital will let us stay here in an extra room for free for up to 2 nights while baby Jack was in the NICU. Monday night it was looking good there was room, then Tuesday morning things had filled up. Luckily Dan talked to the nurses in the NICU and they had a room available (1 of only 3, there are like 20 babies in the NICU) for one night, that's all they could guarantee. Well, Night 2 came and we were still here and then, night 3 was available. That was all we needed to make it through the week!

The nurses were great, called me every 2-4 hours to come feed when Jack stirred, helped us with feeding, taking temperatures, diaper changes, etc. They were so caring and so loving. My favorite part was that from day one they were calling him Jack. At first it was weird because I had really only seen him once and had barely called him by his name, but they were all just like little extensions of me. I couldn't do it all, Dan & I both could not do it all. I loved them, each and every one of them. And they loved my baby and took care of him. NICU nurses are VERY wonderful people.

Something must be said about our Doctor. He was wonderful! Obviously I didn't always get his sense of humor, but he is a really sweet man. He always told it like it was, came up with good comparisons to dumb it down for me, and kept us informed all along the way.


Now, when we met Thursday morning, he told us all of the good news and we were just, words can't describe. Then he asked us if we knew what the little red marks were inbetween Jack's forehead. It had never occurred to me. (Obviously I would take him anyway he came, just so grateful that he was getting ready for him to come home.)
He told us that many babies are born with those birth marks. He showed us some on the back of his neck (50% of them disappear) and told us they were called Stork Bites, for when the stork brought him in. Then, the marks on his face, those are called "angel kisses." (90% of the disappear-not that we are worried, he will most likely have a unibrow to cover those us.)

As I thought about what the Doctor said, I just have been really grateful for the little things along the way that my have seemed like "stork bites," stabbing me in the heart. But also grateful for the "angel kisses" along the way- friends and family visiting us in the hospital, checking in through phonecalls and text messages (even though I returned very few-sorry), and especially for the prayers of everyone. Our prayers have been answered, and I am truly grateful.



We just got the word... We are going home!!!