The rest of Paxlet's hospital stay (after birth)

A few days after I posted Paxlet's birth story, I got to thinking that maybe I should also post about the rest of our hospital stay. There was some interesting stuff that happened there too. So, here is the rest of Paxlet's story in the hospital.

After Paxlet was cleaned up, weighed and measured and I too got cleaned up (took a shower), Mr Siili and I got some tea and bread before we walked (were shown) to the maternity ward. As we started walking, very very slowly, to the maternity ward I started crying. These were hormonal happy tears. Tears of it slowly setting in that I finally had a baby. This little boy that I was pushing down the hall was mine!

Once in the maternity ward, I shared a room with one other lady and her couple of days old baby girl. (This lady was there longer than myself because she had a c-section and I believe some other complication.) I got the window bed. *grin*

Mr Siili helped Paxlet and I get settled into the room. Then we sent out messages that our baby boy had arrived. (Phones aren't allowed in the admittance area or delivery room.) The two of us just couldn't believe that this little bundled boy was ours. After a bit, Mr Siili headed home to get himself some sleep.

Dinner was brought to me at some point in the early evening. The hospital food was pretty decent. Us mothers had breakfast, lunch, dinner brought to us. There were yogurts and juices in the fridge whenever you wanted one. And an evening snack, along with tea or coffee, was left near the fridge/kitchenette area for those who wanted it.

That first day with Paxlet, I tried nursing him off and on all afternoon and into the night. He acted as if he was hungry and I tried to give him what he wanted. Unfortunately, I wasn't producing much milk at that point and he continued to act hungry. Also, my nipples just got sucked to soreness. When I asked a midwife what I could do, she said that if I wanted, we could supplement with some donated milk. At first I was reluctant and said I'd try some more on my own, but after another 30 minutes on each breast and a still hungry baby, I asked for help again. Paxlet gulped the bottle (20 grams, couple of teaspoons) down in no time! He also didn't act hungry anymore. Relief!

Paxlet's tummy might have felt better, but he wouldn't go to sleep and it was after 1 am. I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and labor was exhausting. Thankfully, the same midwife said to me that it was a slow night and then asked if I would like to leave Paxlet with her for a few hours during the night? Yes, please! I did feel a little bit guilty about handing my less than a day old baby over to someone else, but I also knew that I really needed some sleep. I got about 5,5 hours of sleep and Paxlet got another bottle of milk (with my permission).

We got our first visitor Thursday evening. My friend R brought me some Toffifee candies and some pretty flowers from her yard. Friday was just spent hanging out with Paxlet, learning the ropes and spending some time with Mr Siili too. Mr Siili's parents came to visit in the evening. They were excited to meet our little guy, especially grandma.

Friday also saw a blood draw from Paxlet's foot to check his bilirubin levels, for jaundice, as the machine the hospital had said the levels were a bit elevated.Paxlet did not like having blood taken, but it thankfully didn't take too long and his blood work came back normal.

During this whole hospital stay, I've been wearing socks, gowns and a bathrobe provided by the hospital. In addition, there are towels for taking showers and there is an endless supply of disposable panties and pads. The clothes and blankets for Paxlet were also from the hospital, along with diapers and any other items he might need while there. We did not need anything from our hospital bag until the day we left for home and needed to get dressed in our own clothes. Another bonus is a bag of goodies every baby/mom is able to take, if they want. I, of course wanted! It had 10 or so diapers, some baby wipes, pads for me, a pair of disposable bra pads, a toy for the baby and some pamphlets (promoting products from the company who donated this stuff).

Saturday came and I was mostly ready to go home. The idea that we would soon be taking home this little human that is totally dependent on us was a bit daunting, even if exciting too. Before we left the midwives tried testing Paxlet's hearing. Each time they tried the test, he either wiggled too much or his ears were still too wet and filled with 'gunk' (my word) to get a passing test. This wasn't something to be concerned about, as it didn't mean he couldn't hear, it just meant that they weren't able to get a clear reading. I had no worries, because I could see Paxlet reacting to sounds already (for example, when the other baby cried). An appointment was made for us to come back to the hospital at the end of September to get his ears re-checked then.
(The appointment was on Monday and Paxlet's ears passed the test immediately without any problems this time.)

Midwife checking Paxlet's ears.

The last thing we needed before we could go home was to have Paxlet weighed once more and for the doctor to check him over. The doctor was running late, as is normal for weekends we were told, so I thought I'd check out the breast feeding info-session. During that time, Mr Siili decided to take a quick walk. Unfortunately, the info-sessions are only during the week, so there wasn't anything for us to learn there. But, just at that time the doctor arrived and we were taken to be checked out. Paxlet's skin coloring, eyes, body, etc all looked great. Then the doctor listened to his heart and thought she heard some extra heartbeats. She informed me that this is very common in newborns and that it generally goes away on its own within a couple of days.. There was nothing to worry about. But, just to be on the safe side, they would order an EKG that day and another on Sunday to make sure everything was normal, before we could go home. I asked her if she could also explain all of this to my husband, as I want to make sure I understood it all and that Mr Siili hears it correctly from the source. I was totally fine with this news, they reassured me it was ok. I then poked my head out to see if Mr Siili had come back from his walk yet (with the car seat). He was just heading into our room, so I called him over to the doctor's room. And that is when I broke down and started sobbing. Hormones, I tell you!! I could barely eek out the words, "Paxlet is ok, I'm just hormonal". Poor Mr Siili! Thankfully the doctor was able to immediately tell Mr Siili what was going on and I could calm down. We stayed in the room as they took a blood sample from Paxlet's head and then we went back to our room to wait for the EKG.

Paxlet being hooked up to the EKG machine.

The EKG technician came quite quickly on Saturday. She hooked him up with 10 or so leads and wires. She then needed Paxlet to hold very still (hahaha) so she could get a reading of only his heart beating. Apparently this machine is very very sensitive and records any sort of hand wiggle, crying, cooing, etc. After running the test a few times, she was able to get enough evidence to show to the doctor. The EKG technician told us immediately that she didn't see any evidence of extra heartbeats. But we still had to wait for one more night and one more test on Sunday. Sunday's test went along the same lines as Saturday's test and no extra heart beats were heard! We were free to go home.

In some respects, I was a bit relieved to stay in the hospital another day, as my milk didn't come in until Saturday afternoon. We had supplemented at least 3-4 times with donated breast milk on the first and second day. And then on Saturday morning we used some formula once. It was nice to still be at the hospital and check that my milk had come in and that we were going to make it with my milk alone.

Sunday we were discharged after being weighed a final time and looked at by the doctor. Everything was good and we were ready to go.

Mansi was glad we were home too.