This post picks up where Kiran's birth story left off...
Once Kiran was born, they laid him on my chest for just a minute. He started breathing but didn't produce that lustful cry that you hear in the movies. I was really too overwhelmed at that point with the labor just being over to get a good look at him. After about 60 seconds they took him off me so the Pediatrician could assess him. Kiran had a little liquid in his lungs and he had some breathing difficulties, they had to give him some oxygen in the room, and the Pediatrician said they wanted to observe him in the nursery overnight to see if they resolved. they gave him to Mahesh for a brief hold and we cuddled him for another few minutes and then took him away for further examination.
We definitely missed him, but in hindsight, maybe it was a good thing they took him away that first night. Mahesh and I were both SO EXHAUSTED, I had literally never been more tired in my life. After getting cleaned up and a quick visit to the nursery to say goodnight to our baby, Mahesh and I slept like we were dead.
The next day around 5:00 they discharged Kiran from the nursery saying everything was fine, the breathing had cleared up on its own, and he came up to our room. But they had to do a bacterial culture to see if he had any kind of infection just in case, and we wouldn't be able to leave the hospital for a few more days.
We had lots of visitors during this time. It was really nice seeing friends and showing them Kiran and feeling normal again for a few minutes as we chatted. Many brought food for us which was fantastic as the hospital food left something to be desired for sure!
I remember really struggling trying to get Kiran to latch on that first night. I had to call the nurses every time he fed, and he fed a lot! They were super helpful though. He ate at least every 3 hours, and did "cluster feeding" (basically constant feeding) from like 4 AM on. I was so tired! I don't know how I would have been able to get through that without that first night's sleep. As it was our time in the hospital feels like we were doing everything in a haze of nursing, nurses, trying to sleep, getting woken up, etc, combined with long periods of marvelling at this new human being we had created.
By day 3 in the hospital, my mom had come in and was staying at our house and visiting the hospital during the day. The bacterial culture came back negative, and we were all set to go home finally! When the pediatrician came in to discharge us, he made an offhand comment that the baby was a little yellow. He wanted to test Kiran for Jaundice.
The test came back with a fairly high level of bilirubin in his system, so we had to stay in the hospital until it was taken care of. They wheeled in an incubator with these alien-looking bili lights and we had to put these tiny sunglasses on Kiran and put him under the lights anytime he wasn't feeding.
This was definitely the worst day in the hospital. Kiran did not like it under there, we did not like him under there, and we were all exhausted and wanted to go home.
That night he was super fussy and spent a lot of time out of the lights feeding. The nurse kept coming in to check and not seeing him in the incubator, she got upset at me at one point: "he won't get the bilirubin out of his system if you don't put him under the lights!" So I tried to get him under the lights more. When he fussed, Mahesh would put his hands inside the incubator and hold the pacifier in place so Kiran would sleep and not fuss.
The next day his levels were low enough so we could go home with an at-home light pack to use to reduce the bilirubin levels down further. It went around his abdomen under his closed, and a cord came out that had to be plugged in at all times. At night the blue light would shine out of his clothes. He looked like a robo-baby, I didn't mind it so much because at least we were home. After one day of that he was taken off those lights as well.
FINALLY we were home with our baby. My dad asked me what it was like, I said it felt like I went to the moon and came back with a baby.
Once Kiran was born, they laid him on my chest for just a minute. He started breathing but didn't produce that lustful cry that you hear in the movies. I was really too overwhelmed at that point with the labor just being over to get a good look at him. After about 60 seconds they took him off me so the Pediatrician could assess him. Kiran had a little liquid in his lungs and he had some breathing difficulties, they had to give him some oxygen in the room, and the Pediatrician said they wanted to observe him in the nursery overnight to see if they resolved. they gave him to Mahesh for a brief hold and we cuddled him for another few minutes and then took him away for further examination.
We definitely missed him, but in hindsight, maybe it was a good thing they took him away that first night. Mahesh and I were both SO EXHAUSTED, I had literally never been more tired in my life. After getting cleaned up and a quick visit to the nursery to say goodnight to our baby, Mahesh and I slept like we were dead.
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| So did Kiran, this is him in the nursery hours after being born. |
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| Kiran's first bath in NICU, notice the tiny tub -- he is way too big for it! |
We had lots of visitors during this time. It was really nice seeing friends and showing them Kiran and feeling normal again for a few minutes as we chatted. Many brought food for us which was fantastic as the hospital food left something to be desired for sure!
I remember really struggling trying to get Kiran to latch on that first night. I had to call the nurses every time he fed, and he fed a lot! They were super helpful though. He ate at least every 3 hours, and did "cluster feeding" (basically constant feeding) from like 4 AM on. I was so tired! I don't know how I would have been able to get through that without that first night's sleep. As it was our time in the hospital feels like we were doing everything in a haze of nursing, nurses, trying to sleep, getting woken up, etc, combined with long periods of marvelling at this new human being we had created.
By day 3 in the hospital, my mom had come in and was staying at our house and visiting the hospital during the day. The bacterial culture came back negative, and we were all set to go home finally! When the pediatrician came in to discharge us, he made an offhand comment that the baby was a little yellow. He wanted to test Kiran for Jaundice.
The test came back with a fairly high level of bilirubin in his system, so we had to stay in the hospital until it was taken care of. They wheeled in an incubator with these alien-looking bili lights and we had to put these tiny sunglasses on Kiran and put him under the lights anytime he wasn't feeding.
This was definitely the worst day in the hospital. Kiran did not like it under there, we did not like him under there, and we were all exhausted and wanted to go home.
That night he was super fussy and spent a lot of time out of the lights feeding. The nurse kept coming in to check and not seeing him in the incubator, she got upset at me at one point: "he won't get the bilirubin out of his system if you don't put him under the lights!" So I tried to get him under the lights more. When he fussed, Mahesh would put his hands inside the incubator and hold the pacifier in place so Kiran would sleep and not fuss.
The next day his levels were low enough so we could go home with an at-home light pack to use to reduce the bilirubin levels down further. It went around his abdomen under his closed, and a cord came out that had to be plugged in at all times. At night the blue light would shine out of his clothes. He looked like a robo-baby, I didn't mind it so much because at least we were home. After one day of that he was taken off those lights as well.
FINALLY we were home with our baby. My dad asked me what it was like, I said it felt like I went to the moon and came back with a baby.
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