Author: jonathanm1978
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:46 am
| NoAlibi wrote: |
| Jonathan, I was not calling your parenting skills into question. I’m sorry if you feel that way. I was only saying that rather than asking for advice here, since we aren’t doctors and this is a newborn baby we are talking about here, xtina really ought to call her child’s doctor. |
Well, I apologize for my obvious attitude in that post. I was QUITE stressed out yesterday..after being told we were going home and then being shot down…our nerves were on EDGE all day. We were SO afraid that they were going to come in and say "oh wait, we found something..need you to stay ONE more day in NICU"…
All day I spent sitting there on the laptop searching random crap just to pass the time. That’s when I wasn’t swallowing coffee by the gallon and smoking endlessly outside…oh, and WALKING UP AND DOWN the halls between elevator + room + outside to smoke. Man, they sure know how to make you paranoid…they had us worried for 3 days strait that our baby had apnea..and we were watching monitors for 72 hours without hardly any sleep..because she had turned blue ONCE on the 22nd …so that’s what kept us from going home sooner. She had to stay there on monitors for 5 days after the last episode..and that’s when we could be discharged. So it was a HELL of a week, with the last couple of days being the worst.
And it would not have been that bad if they had not told us so many times that we could go home on (insert day)…3 different times. I know NICU….my son was in NICU for 13 days back in 2004..and we weren’t sure he would even live to come home…they really scared us shitless back then. And actually, THAT was when I started eating painkillers again after so many years of being clean (and I mean clean as in, NOTHING AT ALL…no suboxone, no pills of any kind)..I slowly crept back to opiates when my son went in NICU..the VERY NIGHT they transported him after he was born, I met with my mom..and she hooked me up..then went with me to NICU to spend the night. My wife was in another hospital and couldn’t be released until the next day…so I was free to take pills all night..which I did. That evil monster had surfaced, and that started the downhill struggle I encountered for 4 years onward after my son got out of NICU. The next four years I spent doing all sorts of pills, gradually getting worse..and finally moving on to Oxycontin.
So..along with all the stresses of my newborn daughter being in NICU this past week, (since Feb 18 around 9:20pm)…I also had a million things crossing my mind. Like how this little girl is my chance to do it right for a change. How she’s the ONE baby that won’t have a high daddy who’s chasing pills and risks being arrested….
And did I ever do such stupid shit as taking my kids with me when I would go to my dealer’s house to pick up my pills? YES..And I deserve to be bitch-slapped. But..that’s in the past, I’m holding my daughter right now, as I type..and WE ARE HOME!!!
We got discharged at around 4:00pm yesterday..and after an hour or so of getting papers…etc…we got through Birmingham 5pm rush hour and walked in our house at 6:20pm last night. SO HAPPY TO BE HOME!
And I’m sure I’ll be in a better mood in a day or two when I’ve had time to re-adjust to sleeping at home instead of in a NICU room with monitors buzzing all night, and nurses in and out of the room umpteen times..
But yeah..never take anything for gold on the internet when it comes to a baby. ALWAYS call. You can in fact, call your local ER and talk to the nurse practitioner..they’ll likely tell you to come in, but they ARE required to tell you on the phone if something is dangerous or not. They can’t MAKE you come in if they give you advice. But it’s always best when in doubt to hear it from a doctor…I was just trying to point out that it’s not cause for major alarm..and you don’t have to run out of the house half-dressed with the baby by the arm, and race 90mph to the local hospital..it’s not something life-threatening…and I would never suggest anything to an infant who’s in a life-threatening situation. If you think there’s something THAT badly wrong, then you shouldn’t be online looking for answers..you should already be on the road driving to ER.
Takes a little time to adjust to being a new parent. I remember 10+ years ago..but you’ll get it..don’t get worked up and remain calm…if you’re not calm, baby isn’t calm..and that’s not good for anyone.