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| Napping in his high chair (8/12/12) |
I had trouble getting a shuttle to the Bailey House this morning so I didn't arrive until 9am, and the NICU is closed from 9:00-10:30am during the rounds (except you are allowed to be in there when they are at your baby's bedside). The house isn't far from the hospital. If I had ankles and it wasn't raining this morning, it would have been faster to walk. I will say I've gotten SO many comments on my slippers the past two days. Some favorable feedback from Steeler fans and some not as favorable from Eagles fans. The swelling continues to go down so I think either tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest I should be able to wear my own shoes again. Yay! I listened to the doctors as they did their rounds. His bilirubin went up, but it didn't go up so much that they felt they needed to put him back under the lights, but I'm guessing he might end up back under them again at some point. We shall see. They said he gained a little weight and now weighs 3lb 10oz so I guess at some point he was lower than that. He has started to poop a little so now they are holding off on the suppositories unless he goes 24 hours without pooping. They are greatly increasing the quantity of his feeds. They are increasing his feed by 3ml every 12 hours until he reaches 35ml. He had 5ml at noon today, and he'll have 8ml at midnight, etc. I have been getting at least 35ml per pumping session so my body is in synch with his "full feed" amount. The most I ever got in one pumping session thus far was 60ml.
After listening to the doctors I pumped before heading over for a 10am MFM appointment. The nurse removed the steri strips as I was having an allergic reaction to some of them. They were pleased that I am not taking any pain medication. They understand that I will be going to an OB for my 6 week postpartum appointment. I then returned to the NICU and found out that the insurance had said they wouldn't approve his transfer because it would be too difficult to split the payment for things between the two hospitals because of the "bundling" they do with billing. The NICU doctor appealed this decision on the basis that because I am providing milk, it is medically necessary for me to be much closer to my baby. The next step was the medical director at the insurance, and thankfully that person changed the decision to YES. The last step would have been peer to peer review, but it didn't have to go that far. I felt like bursting into tears when I was told the insurance had said no, but thankfully I kept myself together. It wasn't until 3:30pm that I got the good news. I had made arrangements for someone to pick me up today (a teacher I used to work with when I was a principal). This evening they told me that the transfer had been arranged for 8:30am tomorrow, and that I was allowed to ride in the ambulance with Oliver, the doctor, and nurse. The possible glitch at this point is whether or not there will be a bed available at Geisinger tomorrow. When they called yesterday, there were a few beds available, but they had a few admissions since that time. There are a few babies that are supposed to be discharged tonight. If those babies behave during the night and there aren't more admissions during the night tonight, Oliver can be transferred tomorrow morning. The doctor is supposed to call at 7:30am to see if they have a bed available or not. I hope they do!!!
I held Oliver from 12:30-1:30 and 6:00-6:50pm today. Yesterday I held him twice (noon and 6pm) and both times the holding ended when his oxygen saturation levels were going too low (right now they want them to be between 85-95%). Today his levels were actually going too high while I held him, which meant they lowered his O2 level while I held him, which was a good thing (closer to room air). I had pumped at 11:30 and then taken his temperature and changed his diaper so by 1:30 I was ready to go to the bathroom, eat lunch, and pump. They give nursing moms a $5 credit per day at the cafe. I used that for lunch yesterday and today. The second time I held him today we took off his clothes so that we could experience skin-to-skin contact (he was under my shirt). This evening I left a sleeper with the nurse for him to wear to Geisinger tomorrow. I left one that Ian had worn. On Monday morning when we stopped to buy the slippers at Walmart we did also buy three things for Oliver - two preemie size sleepers and one newborn size outfit. As of today, Oliver is one week old!
After listening to the doctors I pumped before heading over for a 10am MFM appointment. The nurse removed the steri strips as I was having an allergic reaction to some of them. They were pleased that I am not taking any pain medication. They understand that I will be going to an OB for my 6 week postpartum appointment. I then returned to the NICU and found out that the insurance had said they wouldn't approve his transfer because it would be too difficult to split the payment for things between the two hospitals because of the "bundling" they do with billing. The NICU doctor appealed this decision on the basis that because I am providing milk, it is medically necessary for me to be much closer to my baby. The next step was the medical director at the insurance, and thankfully that person changed the decision to YES. The last step would have been peer to peer review, but it didn't have to go that far. I felt like bursting into tears when I was told the insurance had said no, but thankfully I kept myself together. It wasn't until 3:30pm that I got the good news. I had made arrangements for someone to pick me up today (a teacher I used to work with when I was a principal). This evening they told me that the transfer had been arranged for 8:30am tomorrow, and that I was allowed to ride in the ambulance with Oliver, the doctor, and nurse. The possible glitch at this point is whether or not there will be a bed available at Geisinger tomorrow. When they called yesterday, there were a few beds available, but they had a few admissions since that time. There are a few babies that are supposed to be discharged tonight. If those babies behave during the night and there aren't more admissions during the night tonight, Oliver can be transferred tomorrow morning. The doctor is supposed to call at 7:30am to see if they have a bed available or not. I hope they do!!!
I held Oliver from 12:30-1:30 and 6:00-6:50pm today. Yesterday I held him twice (noon and 6pm) and both times the holding ended when his oxygen saturation levels were going too low (right now they want them to be between 85-95%). Today his levels were actually going too high while I held him, which meant they lowered his O2 level while I held him, which was a good thing (closer to room air). I had pumped at 11:30 and then taken his temperature and changed his diaper so by 1:30 I was ready to go to the bathroom, eat lunch, and pump. They give nursing moms a $5 credit per day at the cafe. I used that for lunch yesterday and today. The second time I held him today we took off his clothes so that we could experience skin-to-skin contact (he was under my shirt). This evening I left a sleeper with the nurse for him to wear to Geisinger tomorrow. I left one that Ian had worn. On Monday morning when we stopped to buy the slippers at Walmart we did also buy three things for Oliver - two preemie size sleepers and one newborn size outfit. As of today, Oliver is one week old!
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