As a new mom with Cooper, I recall stressing over every incident, feeding, diaper, and small details. I had convinced myself that this time I would be relaxed and calm, and just let Lilly set her own schedule of eating/pooping/sleeping, etc. I was doing great, and so was she. However, the first evening (Friday evening), Lilly's blood sugar levels were very low. The doctors and nurses started off giving her a few bottles of a glucose mixture between nursing sessions. After several tries, her blood sugar still wouldn't come up, so during the night they took her and put in an IV infusion. I didn't get to see her at all Friday evening. But the nurses and doctor assured me that this can be common with bigger babies and that everything was fine. On Saturday morning, they continued with the infusion and bottles. And we were happy when her glucose levels came up and the IV was removed. She got her last bottle of glucose mixture at about 3:00 that afternoon and I thought we would be all set to return to nursing only.
About the time that Lilly had her last bottle, she started having some spit up. I am a veteran when it comes to spit up considering all we went through with Cooper’s reflux as a newborn so I was not at all alarmed. At about 7 in the evening, I was surprised that she still was not ready to nurse (remember her last feeding was at 3 in the afternoon). I asked a nurse about it and she said that Lilly had just had a lot of bottles to regulate her blood sugar levels plus the IV in addition and that she must have just been full to the brim. She advised me to wait another 1-2 hours and try again. Two hours later (9 in the evening) I tried again, but Lilly had been sleeping the whole time and showed no interest in waking to eat.
I maintained my “no stress” demeanor even though I was concerned. Babies just don’t go that long without eating. At 10 I tried again with no luck. Finally at midnight, I started to really worry. I spoke with the night nurse who was so nice and nurturing. Together we brought Lilly out to the nurse’s station and tried a few different tactics to wake her, including sticking her heels to test her blood sugar levels. We would be able to get Lilly to open her eyes and fuss a little, but once I would get her into nursing position she would be back asleep.
Then the nurse suggested something that no nurse in the US would ever be allowed to suggest. She suggested that I lay in bed with Lilly tucked in beside me and try to nurse and sleep. The nurse came into the room with me, set up pillows all around us, put up the guard rails on the bed and tucked the covers around us. She and I both felt that Lilly would have to get hungry soon and eat. I felt cozy with my sweet baby next to me and settled in feeling her warmth against me. I slept on and off like this with Lilly for the next couple of hours.
At 2:30 in the morning, I was getting uncomfortable from laying in the same position and more worried. I called the nurse again, and yet again we tried different tactics to wake Lilly up. She would cry a little and then always go right back to sleep. The nurse then helped tuck Lilly and I into bed again, this time skin to skin with her on my chest and pillows propped all around us. I later told Peter that it felt so nice to be tucked in and I actually got the best sleep that I had had up to that point with Lilly’s soft, warm little body and gentle breathing on my chest. It was a cherished time for me with my sweet girl.
4:30 – Lilly cried and fussed a little, but still wouldn’t eat.
5:10 – Still not.
I tried every hour until the pediatric doctor came in for rounds around 9:00 AM. We let him know that we were really concerned. He checked Lilly out and gave her a thorough physical exam. He noted that her belly was firm and she was still having spit up. And even after all this time without food, she was still having several wet and poopy diapers, all indicators that she has food in her tummy. The doctor wanted to keep a close watch on her until noon. Just after he left the room, Peter and I went to change her diaper. We noticed some blood in her stool which we had on a wipe. Peter took the wipe to the nurse, she took the wipe to the doctor, and the doctor took another look at Lilly. At that point he made the decision to send her to a pediatric hospital in Munich.
More to come in the next part of Lilly's story. I will try to update tomorrow with pictures of her transfer to ICU.
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