Ohhhh NEC No!
NICU 15
Did you know Tommy Pickles was a prem?
Day 35 - 37
Gestation 28 weeks
Kayden is now 795grams, up to 12ml/2hr feeds fortified EBM and around 30% oxygen. He is looking like a great wee fighter.
I head off to the mothers only lounge for some snacks and someone has stolen my food. My bag was closed, so they must have rifled through. I can see other people’s bags have also been left open. I don’t understand what kind of person does this in the NICU. The journey here is so hard, I shouldn’t be worried about thieves too.
I spoke to the ward reception and they were unphased. Yeah, that happens was the sentiment but it really shouldn’t. The ward puts out free sandwiches, toast, butter, different jams, peanut butter, vegemite, coffee and tea. The wonderful ladies at the neonatal trust bring baking, we get good bitches baking (another donating group, yes that’s their name) and they do pizzas on Wednesday. On top of all that, if you ask any nurse they will go out their way to help you with anything. There is no excuse to steal from another mother.
That’s annoying and then comes a twist on the rollercoaster.
Kaydens temperature is high and he is having more red apnea’s. We are watching closely, maybe an infection is brewing.
The afternoon rolls by and he is still a hot baby. They will put a line in to get blood cultures and give him some broad spectrum antibiotics. He is so small, it’s not an easy task. Two different doctors try and no luck, they’ve collected some blood for a gas and cultures but cant get a keepable IV line.
He also got an X-ray for that big belly. It shows a lot of air trapped and no infection.
They try again and got the line in, he can now start the antibiotics. The cultures and gas come back okay and he is on a close watch.
The next doctors rounds have decided on a cautious approach. An infection would be awful so they’re gonna put a foot ahead and treat him like he has one.
They stop his milk feeds and replace with nutrients to his IV line. It’s pretty drastic, so I research the suspect NEC:
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious gastrointestinal problem that mostly affects premature babies. The condition inflames intestinal tissue, causing it to die. A hole (perforation) may form in your baby's intestine. Bacteria can leak into the abdomen (belly) or bloodstream through the hole.
Ohhhh hells nah!
I can’t sleep, I’m so worried about a serious infection and things can change so fast. Just like how we went from a few quiet days to having the kitchen sink thrown at a mystery infection.
These guilty feelings are creeping back up on me. This is all my fault he is going through this. I should have done more earlier. I shouldn’t have been working and running around. I should have been only resting to keep him growing. Or was it catching RSV that made me PPROM. These thoughts are not going to get me anywhere good.
I need him to get through this all and grow and forget everything. I want to show him there are all these wonderful out in the world.
I promise him there is so much more to life than this little box.