Our time in the NICU

Mirabella was born 6 weeks early. My due date was actually Valentine’s Day but she decided that was just too far away and made her appearance January 8th. Since she was early we knew she’d have to spend some time in the NICU, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Since we knew already that she had Down syndrome, the not knowing wasn’t a fear for us. We went to a specialist throughout my pregnancy and as far as they were able to tell, she had no heart or GI concerns. Children born with Down syndrome can have a number of other health issues. Things they watch for are issues with the heart and the intestines. Luckily all her ultrasounds looked great so we weren’t too concerned, but knew she would need an echocardiogram done on her heart once born. They can see a lot while she is in my belly, but the best picture is straight from the source. So we already knew that would be done. I think what we feared the most was, how long she would be in the NICU for? The first answer we got from this question was up until her due date. THAT WAS 6 WEEKS! We instantly panicked. How in the world would we be able to do this? I think we asked ”when are we able to take her home?” everytime a nurse came in. Mirabella was on oxygen for the first 24 hours and fluids the first 72 hours. She was eating like a CHAMP! Seriously, the nurses couldnt get over how well she was eating. I wasn’t able to breastfeed her yet, due to the medicine I was given to help me sleep during labor. They were afraid it would make her too sleepy. So she was on formula for the week she was in the NICU. 2 days after she was born, she had her echocardiogram done. Her heart was just your normal 2 day old heart! Your typical holes, where they should be and completely normal for a 2 day old baby. We were so relieved. They did a blood test to confirm, once again she did have trisomy 21. Which we knew that already. The newborn panel did show that her Bilirubin, liver values, were a little high causing some jaundice. So she did 24 hours of ultraviolet therapy. But her jaundice continued throughout her stay in the NICU. She was peeing and pooping normally though so they weren’t too concerned about the jaundice. She could have gone home after 4 days in the NICU but she had lost her birth weight and still hadn’t gained it back. Of course that is completely normal for any baby but before she could go home, the doctor wanted to see her gain her weight back. So we stayed through the weekend and after halfway through the week and were able to take her home the following Wednesday. She still had some jaundice but the doctors felt comfortable sending her home and checking on it through her pediatrician. As we continued to monitor her jaundice, it was remaining round the same level so my doctor wanted me to stop breastfeeding for 48 hours to help flush her system of it because sometimes babies can get something called breast milk jaundice. There wasn’t anything wrong with my breast milk, it was just something that can happen. So I continued to pump and save and just feed her formula for 48 hours. We still ended up going back a few more times because her levels were still higher then they were comfortable with. But she finally kicked it, her levels went down and has been drinking breast milk just fine. She rocked her week in the NICU and we are so thankful we were only there for that short of time. I send positive thoughts towards every parent who has a baby in the NICU that they have to travel to see everyday or aren’t even able to see everyday. I’m with you and although I was only there a short amount of time I know it can be scary and really hard. My thoughts and love go out to you all.

I’ll be posting how out first day and few weeks at home went with Mirabella soon!

Car seat test to go home

Going home outfit!

Going home!