On the second morning after Anders was born I went down to the special care nursery in the hospital and found out the Anders had gotten worse over night and was now up past 60% oxygen. As soon as the doctor came in, he called over to the NICU at another hospital and after talking to the neonatoligist there, they decided that Anders needed to be transferred to that hospital that had a Level III NICU (rather than a Level II where we were) because they needed to try some treatments that the nursery we were at could not do. As soon as I found out Anders was being moved I made sure that I could get discharged at the same time that he left.
By the time the transfer team from the other hospital (which included three nurses and the ambulance driver) had arrived and had Anders ready to go, I had been discharged so my mom and I could follow directly over to the other hospital. Anders got put into a portable isolette and they kept his oxygen going and even started him on CPAP on the ride over to the other hospital. One of the nurses later told me that Anders did really well for most of the ride, he just got fussy and agitated when they got off the freeway at the end and the road was a little more bumpy.
It was really hard seeing my newborn baby so sick and needing so much help. I was very emotional during this whole experience but I am so grateful for my mom who was there through everything with me, for my family who supported me from far away and for the wonderful friends that I had nearby who offered help in any way they could and had people lined up to watch Alden for the next four days within an hour of finding out what was going on. I can't imagine how I would have got through this experience without all of them. I am also so grateful that I was able to talk to Drew multiple times a day for the first few days of Anders life when everything was still so unsure. It was great to be able to send Drew pictures through e-mail as well!
Anders all ready for his ambulance ride.
By the time we got to the other hospital and found the NICU, Anders had been put in his new bed and room. They had him hooked up to CPAP and had the oxygen at around 50-60%. The doctor came in to meet us and get us up to speed on what was going on almost as soon as we got there, which was very much appreciated. The doctor told us that Anders was working really hard to breathe and they had started the CPAP with the hope that it would let them reduce his oxygen levels but it hadn't worked as well as they would like so far. If he didn't start improving they would need to intubate him and give him surfactant. My mom and I watched Anders for a few minutes and then went to get lunch in the cafeteria at the hospital. We went back to check on him again after lunch and spent a little time with him but then we needed to go home to get Alden, so that I could spend a little time with him and I needed to pack a bag so that I could spend the night at the hospital with Anders.
The set up in Anders room at the NICU with all the machines around him.
While I was at home with Alden the nurse called me and told me the doctor had decided that they needed to give Anders surfactant because his breathing was not improving and she suspected Anders' lungs might be a little underdeveloped. I am actually grateful I was not there when they intubated him to give him the surfactant because it was apparently a very difficult experience for Anders' and it took them multiple tries to successfully intubate him. However, by the time I got back to the hospital that night, Anders was already breathing better.
He looks like he is resting so peacefully here but he was still grunting as he breathed. However, it did gradually start getting better after they administered the surfactant.
They kept him lying on his tummy because it seemed to make him more comfortable. They had to keep trying to tie him into place with "seat belts" (as the nurses called the blankets they rolled up and put over him) because he would try to roll over.
These were some pictures I took during the night when I got up for one of the nurse's care times. The nurse came in every four hours the first night we were there. I helped where I could but they were really trying to just let him rest as much as possible so that his little body would have time to heal.
To be continued...
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