NICU

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Pregnancy and Birth

At about 20 weeks along in the pregnancy I developed oedema in my legs. My younger sister had pre-eclampsia so the midwife ensured we kept a close eye on my blood pressure and proteins etc. At 33 weeks I had a cold and was generally feeling a bit under the weather. I was busy with work and only had 1 1/2 weeks to go till school was up for the year. I was seeing my midwife every two weeks at this stage. At 33 weeks and 3 days my blood pressure was high and proteins were detected. I was immediately referred to the Women’s Assessment Unit at the hospital. They took my bloods etc and came back 3 hours later to tell me I had pre-eclampsia and was admitted into the ward another 3 hours later on a Friday evening. Thomas arrived on Monday. My blood pressure kept increasing and by the time I was moved to be monitored 1 to 1, it was too late. My body went into shock, lost all reflexes and so required an emergency cesarean. On that morning, we had a gestational scan and Thomas was perfectly healthy. I had received both steroid shots. Thomas arrived into the world screaming his little lungs out. I got to see him before he and the hubby took off to NICU. Joe spent his night between NICU and HDU (High Dependency Unit).

NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit)

Thomas required only 1 hour of CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure). In Thomas’ first week in NICU, things were running along smoothly. He was in a cot maintaining his temperature and tolerating NG (Nasal Gastric) feeds well. We were slowly introducing him to the breast and he had his first bath. We were absolutely thrilled with how things were going and we seemed pretty sure he’d be home before Christmas.

After 10 days in NICU,  I got a phone call one morning to say Thomas had been moved to be monitored closely because he’d had an unsettled night. The nurse seemed pretty calm and casual about it so I didn’t think anything too serious had happened. Prior to this phone call, I’d last seen Thomas in the afternoon the day before and the nurses had asked me if my diet had changed because Thomas was spilling post feeds. I remember feeling bad about what I’d possibly eaten to upset his tummy.

When I turned up to NICU I was shocked to find that Thomas was having neonatal seizures and was unresponsive to my voice. He was extremely unsettled. I rang my husband straight away. The doctors were going to do an ultrasound so I had to leave to allow them to do that. At home I received a phone call. It was the most awful phone call I’ve ever had. The doctor said that Thomas had a severe brain bleed and they were mystified as to why a 34 weeker would have a brain bleed. They said it was pretty uncommon and usually occurs with bubbas younger than 32 weeks. He said they were going to try to get an MRI done urgently.

On Thomas’ page, I go into more detail about the extent of the brain damage. Let’s just say it was pretty bad and we feared the worst such as Thomas going into a coma, death, being a vegetable. The doctors were mystified and the only thing they could really do is try to control and manage the seizures while the bleed resolved itself. Thomas was on a lot of drugs and was heavily sedated for a good couple of weeks. He didn’t move or make a sound. We thought we’d never hear him cry again. Thomas was hooked up to a Brainz Monitor which would alarm when Thomas was having seizures. The alarm was going off constantly. Our hearts would stop every time we heard. Because Thomas was heavily sedated he required intubation and ventilation due to respiratory depression. During this stressful time, my milk supply dropped dramatically and my cesarean cut began to bleed. I needed to regular check ups on my blood pressure and antibiotics for my wound. In the end I needed an ultrasound to check on the wound and turns out I had blood clotting. Eventually it did heal but it took a lot longer. I was really thankful to have my mum stay with me to help out and drive me to the hospital everyday.

After a few days, Thomas’ seizures became less and less and they were happy to start weaning him off the drugs. Thomas started to show little movements here and there. He opened his eyes again and seemed responsive to our voices which was a relief. I remember turning up to NICU one morning and walked into his room and he wasn’t there. I instantly feared the worst. Turns out, they had moved him to the room he was originally in but for some reason had not called to let me know.

My supply was still quite low but I kept up with the pumping. I remember sitting at home in the middle of the night looking at pictures of Thomas to try and stimulate my supply. I remember thinking how wonderful it would be to have him in my arms one day. While he was in the intensive care unit I held him a few times over the 2 weeks. It really depended on which nurse was on as to whether they truly believed in the benefits of skin to skin and it was quite a bit of effort to get Thomas in and out of the incubator. It took about 15 minutes for the nurse or maybe two to get him out and into our arms safely.

Thomas hours old.

Thomas in Intensive Care. Weight 1.6 kg

Sedation wearing off. Thomas opening his eyes again.

Out of Intensive Care. On Continuous NG Feeds, heart rate monitors, and incubator to help regulate temperature.

Once Thomas was in Nursery 7, he had big issues with tolerating feeds with a lot of spills. This affected his ability to gain weight. He was on the continuous NG tube for about 2 weeks. They then trialed him without it and it did not work. It was back and forth for a bit. Every time I turned up to NICU I was so used to the first thing the nurse said being, Thomas had “number” of large spills or I would ask, “any spills?” He was often asleep or otherwise drowsy from the sedatives for a good while. It took him a week or so to regulate his temperature again and graduate into a cot. A NICU parent will understand that this is a huge deal. After a couple of weeks of large spilling, they tried him on Gaviscon and he started to have less spills. By this time the sedation was wearing off. We wondered if maybe his tummy was not performing at its full capability due to the drugs because by the time Thomas left NICU, he wasn’t on the Gaviscon anymore.

During the time that Thomas was receiving continuous feeds it was not