After being transferred to the Special Care Unit, we thought we would only be there a few days as Lennox has been progressing so well in the NICU. She had been maintaining her temperature and was continually gaining weight. Those are two of the criteria for being released from the hospital. The final criteria is that she would be taking all of her feedings by bottle for 24 hours.
When we left the NICU, she had only been taking a few milliliters of her feeding each time. Everyone that we asked about how to get her to take her full feeding by bottle gave us the same story. They said that it's like a lightbulb, it's turned off, you may get a few flickers, and then one day it is turned on and it stays on. They said there is no way to rush it.
The next two weeks in the Special Care Unit were miserable! My husband and I were staying every night, trying to figure out the best way to handle the every 3 hour feeding schedule. The schedule wasn't what made it so miserable. The part that made the experience so bad was the light bulb flickers. She would get so close to taking a full feeding, or even take a full feeding. We would get our hopes up, only for them to be crushed 3 hours later when she only took 15 mL. It got to the point that I was literally crying because I thought we would never get out of there. All of our family and friends didn't understand why we couldn't leave and them asking why and not understanding the process only made things harder. I hated the fact that we couldn't leave, but I understood why and no amount of explaining made sense to them. Everyone (and their Mom) knows a baby that weighed less, or was born earlier, or had more issues, etc that was able to leave the hospital in less time than we had been able to. What no one seemed to understand was that every hospital has their own rules and every baby is different. Lennox was gaining weight, but only because they were feeding her what she wouldn't drink, through the NG tube. If she would only be drinking what she took from the bottle (like how it would be at home), then she wouldn't be gaining weight and she would rapidly decline. We just had to give her the time she needed to take all of her feedings by bottle.
Her nurses for the most part were great, but they hadn't been super helpful on teaching us what to do to get her to eat better. Some said to rub her head, others said to try a wet wipe on her face to keep her awake. All of their tips maybe helped during one feeding, but then wouldn't work the next time.
Finally after 2 weeks in the special care unit we got the nurse who would make all the difference. She told us to tap the bottom of the bottle while the baby was feeding. She said I can't say why it works, but she said it is amazing the difference it makes. She said to sing a song in your head and tap to the beat. In the next 24 hours, I probably sang jingle bells 800 times in my head. My husband and I would see if we could guess what song the other was tapping to pass the time. She said they really aren't supposed to give us that tip because they want your baby to take the full feeding without help or prompting. She said, if you follow that rule then you'll be here forever. We are super thankful she gave us the tip.
Lennox took a full feeding at 8:00 PM on Sunday and she continued to take each full feeding after that for 24 hours. at 5:00 PM on Monday we asked to see the doctor to see if we could get the heck out of the hospital. The doctor came in and said that if we promised to take her to her pediatrician the next day and if she could pass the car seat test, then we could be released that night. We of course were like yes, we will do whatever it takes to get out of there.
The car seat test is where the baby must be strapped in the car seat for 90 minutes and not have any breathing issues while in there. Thankfully, she passed and we were able to go home!
{coming home outfit pants and headband from
Jax + Jay}
I can not tell you how amazing it felt to drive home with my baby after 3 weeks of being stuck in the hospital.
-Julie
