Caden William

After a short two hours in the outside world, Caden, our perfect happy little boy was taken to the nursery to get checked out and cleaned up. A nurse came in shortly to let us know that regrettably, Caden was breathing a little faster than he should have been and that he would be moved to the special care nursery (NICU) to be evaluated. Usually babies are there about 24 hours and then are good to go back to mom and the regular nursery- and he just needed a little extra attention for a few good hours.
 Dad had just left to go home and shower and gather himself. I called him, still calm and collected, and still surrounded by family.

I was worried sick about my little boy and my dad took me in my wheelchair later to see him in his incubator. To sit and only make contact through a little hole with your baby is about the most helpless feeling ever. His little chest was going at what seemed like a million miles a minute. The nurse explained that his box was helping regulate his oxygen. The air we breathe is 21% O2- Caden was needing closer to 30-36% O2 and this box gave him that increased level to help his lungs. Having the limited medical bachground that I do- I could see the signs of distress in my baby- retractions, seesaw breathing and grunting- all signs that he was not getting the air he needed.

The next morning at 3am I called the nursery to see how he was and they told me that a chest XRay had been ordered for him and blod gases were being drawn. They also started him on an antibiotic proactively in case the gases or XRay came back to show an infection. The next hour a nurse came in to let me know my son required 60-80% O2 and he was intubated. I woke daddy in a minor hysteria and we went to see him at 6 that morning.

They gave him surfactant through his tube to encourage his little somewhat underdeveloped lungs to start exchanging oxygen like they should.It was one of the scariest things to see him in that box with a tube in his mouth, an IV taped to his arm, heart monitor on his chest- just not something any parent wants- my baby was sick and all I could do is sit back and watch and wait. 

He had a few visitors through the day, and I was still wheel chair bound so daddy proudly showed him off to everyone. At night I tried to pump as best as I could- but with milk not being in yet, it was more like an excuse to get up and wonder how my little man was doing. It was a long night and all we could do was hope that the stress and events of the day were all for the best in the long run.