Breastfeeding and Bradys
Two important things happened
today while Tony and I were in the NICU. The first one is a pretty good and
important thing- Jack got the hang of nursing and latched on quite a few times.
He actually spent about 15-20 min nursing today. He was doing well and he was
getting milk from nursing and getting fed through a Gavage tube; unfortunately,
Jack’s tummy got a little too full and he threw up all over me (I guess he got
more milk from me than the nurse anticipated when she turned on the Gavage
tube). I was “christened” by Jack- baby
puke all over me and all over him, poor guy.
The important good that comes from this urping experience is that Jack
can get a good latch and can actually nurse!
The other important thing
that happened in the NICU today was not a good thing. Harper has been on oxygen
pretty much the entire time she’s been in the NICU. She was moved from a high
flow nasal cannula to a lower flow cannula on Saturday. Sunday when Tony held
her, she did a great job taking deep breaths and maintaining a good oxygen
level. Today, however, she did not do so well. While Tony was holding Harper
she had a big “Brady” or Bradycardia (which means Harper’s oxygen level and
heart rate both dropped very quickly because her brain does not know inherently
that it has to breath and beat it’s heart. Harper has to think about breathing and
sometimes she relaxes too much or her brain just doesn’t make the connection
and then she Bradys and turns gray and it’s pretty scary. Most of the time, she
can pop right back up- today she didn’t do so well bringing herself back up.
Tony had to rub her back and the nurse had to come in and increase her oxygen.
These things are normal setbacks for little ones in the NICU and Tony and I
know that these are things that Harper will outgrow (we hope). But, with all that being said, when you’re
holding your baby and you hear alarms, see that her heart rate has dropped from
160 beats a min to 92 beats a min and she’s gray, it is a very helpless
feeling. With that being said, we have every hope that tomorrow will be a
better day for Miss Harper.
Two important things happened
today while Tony and I were in the NICU. The first one is a pretty good and
important thing- Jack got the hang of nursing and latched on quite a few times.
He actually spent about 15-20 min nursing today. He was doing well and he was
getting milk from nursing and getting fed through a Gavage tube; unfortunately,
Jack’s tummy got a little too full and he threw up all over me (I guess he got
more milk from me than the nurse anticipated when she turned on the Gavage
tube). I was “christened” by Jack- baby
puke all over me and all over him, poor guy.
The important good that comes from this urping experience is that Jack
can get a good latch and can actually nurse!
The other important thing
that happened in the NICU today was not a good thing. Harper has been on oxygen
pretty much the entire time she’s been in the NICU. She was moved from a high
flow nasal cannula to a lower flow cannula on Saturday. Sunday when Tony held
her, she did a great job taking deep breaths and maintaining a good oxygen
level. Today, however, she did not do so well. While Tony was holding Harper
she had a big “Brady” or Bradycardia (which means Harper’s oxygen level and
heart rate both dropped very quickly because her brain does not know inherently
that it has to breath and beat it’s heart. Harper has to think about breathing and
sometimes she relaxes too much or her brain just doesn’t make the connection
and then she Bradys and turns gray and it’s pretty scary. Most of the time, she
can pop right back up- today she didn’t do so well bringing herself back up.
Tony had to rub her back and the nurse had to come in and increase her oxygen.
These things are normal setbacks for little ones in the NICU and Tony and I
know that these are things that Harper will outgrow (we hope). But, with all that being said, when you’re
holding your baby and you hear alarms, see that her heart rate has dropped from
160 beats a min to 92 beats a min and she’s gray, it is a very helpless
feeling. With that being said, we have every hope that tomorrow will be a
better day for Miss Harper.
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