First pic is little man at 24 hours old and 2nd Pic is little one now
So i had posted in here back in August when I had my son but he was only 1 day old so I wanted to update on our NICU stay. So my son Dominic Christian Alexander was born Aug 16 2014 at 35 weeks 3 days. He was 18.5 inches long and he weighed 4lbs 12.8 oz. He is now 7 months 3 days old and 6 months 2 days old adj. He now weighs 11lbs 11oz.
So we were out of town visiting my in laws 1.5 hours away as we did not have the kids and we wanted to see them one last time before my scheduled c section. We arrived at their place at 8pm on Aug 15. I was started having contractions around 9pm but i didn't think much of it. This was my 3rd baby and I had never experienced labor. Around 10 i started losing bits of my mucus plug but again didn't think much of it because apparently you can lose it and it can grow back. They gradually got worse. At 130am Aug 16 they were coming about every 6-7 minutes so I decided to go to hospital to get checked out. They checked me and i was 1 cm dilated. I wasn't concerned as my sister had been at 1cm for the last 2 weeks. So they started getting more painful and closer together and they came and checked again and i was 3cm dilated. So they said they were going to prep me for csection. I was scared at this point. My son was born at 651am.
We were lucky that he had no breathing issues and the only thing he had was feeding issues. After 12 hours they moved him out from under the heating lamps to a little bassinet. All he had was an iv. Nursing was going well. The nicu nurses were amazing. Dad was planning on going back to the in laws the next afternoon to get some rest before he headed home as he had to work on the Monday and to be home with my other 2 kids. So on the Sunday just before dad was about to leave we went to speak to the delivery ward nurses. I had issues with them. In the city i was suppose to deliver in they encourage you to get up out of bed and walk around after csection to help the healing process, in the hospital i delivered in they didnt want you out of bed. I had had 2 prior csections i knew how things worked. So they didnt want me waking down to the nicu alone, guess they thought i would keel over in the process. So we went to go make sure before dad left that they would let me walk down alone once dad left to see the baby. They said absolutely not. I asked how i was suppose to feed my son and they said he would be fine for the night, except i wasn't going to be able to go down on my own till i was discharged 24 hours later!!! I was so angry and upset and dad said under no circumstance was that happening so he decided to stay one more night till i was discharged the next day(Monday) and i could come and go as i please. This nicu was nice as i could pick him up whenever i pleased and hold him as long as i wanted. Unfortunately at this point though i wasn't getting much out when i pumped.
So all the nicu nurses knew we were from woodstock so lo had the nickname of the woodstock baby. So on the sunday when we went down for the midnight feed the nurse came to us and asked if we were Interested in transfering to a hospital closer to home. We had already thought about that but my dad said we would have to pay for it so we didn't pursue it. So when the nurse asked and she told us that ohip covers the transfer we were all on board with it. It would be easier for dad to come see him if we were closer and i needed my kids and family close.
So we gave them the name of the hospital closest to us with a nicu and they would call and set it up. At 10am they came in and told us that that hospital would not have an available bed for him for a week. So we gave her the name of another hospital that was pretty much the same distance as the first one.
When we came back at 1230pm to feed little man they informed us that the transfer was confirmed and the transport would be there to pick him up at 4pm. So at 245 we came back and bathed him and fed him and then i was discharged and we got back to his room at 345 at which point he was already in the travel incubator thing ready to go. 4 came and went. There were big issues with the transport and it didn't show up till 6pm. So right before it came we went to bathroom and when we got back the nurse said they just came to take him down that if we hurried we could see him off. That apparently was not the case as he was long gone and i was so upset.
So we grabbed something to eat on the way and headed to the new hospital. When we got there the transport was just leaving and they said they just got there a few minutes before us so i guess they got caught in traffic. So we hurried up to the nicu as i so badly wanted to see little man.
They had "courtesy rooms" for Moms to stay in To be close to baby. I dropped my stuff off and went to go see my son. They wouldn't let me in till Dr seen him. I was so upset. I went outside and cried. At this point i hadn't seen my son in 2 hours and hadn't held him in almost 5, i was a wreck. Then my mom, step dad, and older son(4) showed up. That made me feel a bit better as i missed my kids So much. Then we went upstairs and i got to see my little baby.
Nursing continued to go well and they said in the morning they would start weaning him off the iv, which was great news as i seen it as one step closer to going home. He was off the iv after about 26 hours of being in the new hospital. Once off the iv the nursing took a turn for the worse. He all of a sudden did not have the strength to nurse he couldnt stay awake to eat. I think the lack of iv had something to do with that. So after 24 hours of the nursing not going well they put a tube in. Luckily the pumping was going well so they had tons of bm to give him. I was so devastated that he needed a tube fed, i blamed myself. About 12 hours after they put the tube in(thursday morning) i started begging the nurses to let me bottle feed him instead but they just wouldn't listen to me. When dad came up friday after work we went for dinner and insisted we needed to have a nice chat with the nurses when we got back to let them know we were going to bottle feed him. I hated the tube. I wanted to be the one taking care of him but they sat there and said because he had the stupid tube that he didn't need me, i was so upset. So when we got back from dinner we talked to the nurse and she finally listened. She said the reason they didn't want me bottle feeding was because i went to that hospital that i only wanted to breast feed but i told them that as much as that was true, the main goal was to get him home so if that ment on a bottle as long as he was getting bm i didnt care. So we finally started integrating in the bottle and his last tube feed was saurday afternoon. Before they would take the toob out he had to be taking all his feeds orally for 24 hours. When they took the tube out sunday evening i was over the moon. On monday he did his carseat test and passed with no issues. Now he just needed to gain weight. The pediatrition peadiatrition told me that day(monday) that he would be going home by thursday, but possibly by the next day. That night he had a good enough weight gain. I was over the moon. The next morning the dr came in and said Dominic Could go home that evening, i was so glad.
Luckily we only spent 11 days, but it was horrible none the less. I know our stay was not as complicated as some of yours but we are all strong mamas. When we got home my daughter was gone till friday and we were going to pick my son up on the saturday(2 hours away). It was so nice to see family.
After a week of being home i was struggling with my crappy pump to get any milk out so as scared as i was i told hubby either i put him to breast or i lose my supply. I put him to breast and have no issues. We had some minor issues at christmas as he had a cold and was distracted by commotion so not eating as often and he became so restless at breast that from mid nov to mid jan he only gained 7oz. Things picked up after that, i also had to go on domperidone to keep up my supply as i have medical issues that are decreasing my milk supply.The pediatrition is not concerned. The health nurse and family dr had a few concerning times with weight but have now accepted that he is just a slow gainer, he is finally in 2nd percentile. We also have a lady who works with preemies who comes out to our home to track development. So far there have been no issues, he just doesnt laugh yet. I am so proud of my little guy. The smallest 7 month old i have ever seen!!!
Sorry about the long story i just needed to tell someone
do you have some help at home so that you can rest between feeds Hun? Xxxx
I only got to see him for 30 seconds before He was taken away. After I got out of the hospital I made it up there to see him, and he immediately started getting better, I got to breastfeed him for the first time 6 days after he was born and the next day he Was able to go home. So he had a total of 7 days in the NICU. 
