So...Week 1.....of our baby’s life!

It’s been a strange old week. 

FROM THIS                                                                                                       TO THIS!

I think you have an image in your head when you become a dad for the first time, what life is going to be like once the baby is born.

All along I have based my countdown on the due date knowing it was possible that date wasn’t an exact prediction, so when thinking of a post-birth life, again we assume everything will work out, the little one will arrive and you and the wife go home and start your life as a family, unfortunately in our case at least, that wasn’t going to happen!

Now before I continue, let me clarify, that even though we had our little bump in the road, I still feel were very lucky that after this week, BB (Baby Benjamin) is healthy and home.

                                                                                                                               

So BB joined us Last Sunday (17^th July) and everything checked out. Although he was 5 weeks early he was a good weight at 5lb 14oz and the paediatrician was very happy with him. We were placed onto the TCU (Transitional Care Unit) around midnight. I left for the night at the request of the nurses, leaving the wife and baby to get some rest.

Around 1am, Christine began the arduous job of breastfeeding and she and the nurse noticed his breathing was a little ‘growly’. They decided then to take him to the SPBU (Special Care Baby Unit). As new parent being told your baby is going into the SCBU is pretty scary. To see him in that little incubator broke my heart and if I was a religious man I would have prayed for his recovery.

The doctors told us that although he was on an incubator, he needed no help breathing and was simply being monitored more than he could be in the TCU as well as being treated for jaundice and given antibiotics to prevent any infection.

After 36 hours in the SCBU, they moved him back upstairs to the TCU, where he could be with his mummy.

After doing blood tests they decided his Bilrubin levels were unacceptable again, so they restarted treatment for that. By Friday, he was off all treatments and feeding well.

When the nurse came to do her rounds on Saturday night, she clarified his Jaundice had subsided, Christine was healthy, she was unsure, from that point, what the plan was.....This was the first indication that after nearly a week, we could finally take our boy home.

The next day, they came to do a hearing test (Something we noticed they only do when going home.) When the doctor came, he agreed with the nurse. No real reason to for them both to be there!

If you’re still interested in my birth story, let me know and I will try and get it published some point this week.

Thank you again to all my followers and especially those that have offered advice and support.