7 Weeks in the NICU

Luke spent 7 long weeks in the NICU at Primary Children's. It is such a wonderful hospital! They even had a kids crew and we were able to drop Kayden and Riley off at the kids play zone for about an hour and the staff would watch them while I was able to be with Luke. That was such a wonderful thing for us, it was the only way I could go be with Luke while Zach was at work. When he got transferred there he was a "very sick baby" That is what the Doctors and nurses said. Of course it was so very very hard to see him so sick and little. He had problems with his hematocrit and platelets (blood problems) Then we spoke with Cardiology and they sat us down to tell us about Luke's heart problems. It was hard to follow but we were told he would have to have surgery. We left the hospital that night crying. During the first 2 weeks Luke was a "sick baby" Then one day he was great! Cardiology talked with us again saying his heart wasn't as bad as they thought, he just has a heart mummer. So that was fantastic news. Then the Doctors called it seemed like once or twice a day saying some kind of good news, " he is off of this or we lowered this" Soon he only had an IV for meds, his feeding tube and oxygen. Then he was off everything but the feeding tube. This was the first of December. They started him on his bottle feedings and it was going extremely well. He was a champ. Then one day he was back on the oxygen and not eating. He became very anemic. And his hematocrit fell again. So for a few weeks everything was at a stand still. It was so tiring going back and forth (long drive) to Primary's then having to spend time with Kayden and Riley to keep their life normal plus having to pump every 3 hours. We finally sat down with the Doctor after they determined there was no medical reason for Luke not eating. We learned how to place a feeding tube and FINALLY the day came to bring him home! January 2nd we arrived at the hospital to take him home. He was 4 pounds 7 ounces. It was a great day!