This story is about 3 weeks overdue, but I could bring myself to write it given that it makes us look crazy......crazier.
The day we brought Ellie home from the hospital was the best day ever - it meant that our little family was home together at last. It meant that I was out of that insufferable hospital bed and hospital experience. We stopped by Wendy's to grab something to eat and we had settled in for our first night home. Ellie had to go in her bilibed for the night and she was quite cooperative with it all. Then we heard her coughing.....Justin bent over to see what was going on and she was choking on something. It was complicated by the fact that she was strapped into this bilibed contraption....I ran and got the bulb syringe and suctioned her mouth and she seemed fine. We put her in her bouncer to let her recooperate from the hoopla of choking. She instantly started coughing and choking yet again....suctioned again. Went to change her diaper - choking again - suctioned again.
We remembered that the kind nurses at the Nursery at Pres had told us to call with any questions at any time. So I called and explained she was gagging/choking each time we laid her down and we were wondering if we were doing something wrong and if there was a trick?!?! It wasn't exactly an emergency because each time we suctioned her she was fine. The nurse interrupted me and said, "call your pediatrician," and hung up on me. So much for calling any time. We had an appointment the 2 days from that night with the pediatrician, which proved to be problematic. We called the pediatrician's office and received the on call person who told us that they could not help us because we were not yet established with a pediatrician!!! So they patched us through to the Nurse hotline. As I was on hold and waiting for further instruction as to what option to select Justin notified me that Ellie was choking yet again and this time was unable to catch her breath and she was limp - I hung up and we headed to the Emergency room. Since we were afraid to lay her down she had a diaper half on and only clothed in a blanket.
We got to the emergency room and were ultimately told that her O2 Sat was 99%, heart rate was perfect, lungs were clear, and therefore there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. We were asked repeatedly, "Is this your first child?" You know, in that knowing way that says "You are crazy first time parents." The doctor gave us a hand out on acid reflux which stated Do's and Don'ts to preventing acid reflux. We read through the list and realized we had done all the Don'ts - all of them.
The day we brought Ellie home from the hospital was the best day ever - it meant that our little family was home together at last. It meant that I was out of that insufferable hospital bed and hospital experience. We stopped by Wendy's to grab something to eat and we had settled in for our first night home. Ellie had to go in her bilibed for the night and she was quite cooperative with it all. Then we heard her coughing.....Justin bent over to see what was going on and she was choking on something. It was complicated by the fact that she was strapped into this bilibed contraption....I ran and got the bulb syringe and suctioned her mouth and she seemed fine. We put her in her bouncer to let her recooperate from the hoopla of choking. She instantly started coughing and choking yet again....suctioned again. Went to change her diaper - choking again - suctioned again.
We remembered that the kind nurses at the Nursery at Pres had told us to call with any questions at any time. So I called and explained she was gagging/choking each time we laid her down and we were wondering if we were doing something wrong and if there was a trick?!?! It wasn't exactly an emergency because each time we suctioned her she was fine. The nurse interrupted me and said, "call your pediatrician," and hung up on me. So much for calling any time. We had an appointment the 2 days from that night with the pediatrician, which proved to be problematic. We called the pediatrician's office and received the on call person who told us that they could not help us because we were not yet established with a pediatrician!!! So they patched us through to the Nurse hotline. As I was on hold and waiting for further instruction as to what option to select Justin notified me that Ellie was choking yet again and this time was unable to catch her breath and she was limp - I hung up and we headed to the Emergency room. Since we were afraid to lay her down she had a diaper half on and only clothed in a blanket.
We got to the emergency room and were ultimately told that her O2 Sat was 99%, heart rate was perfect, lungs were clear, and therefore there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. We were asked repeatedly, "Is this your first child?" You know, in that knowing way that says "You are crazy first time parents." The doctor gave us a hand out on acid reflux which stated Do's and Don'ts to preventing acid reflux. We read through the list and realized we had done all the Don'ts - all of them.
I burst into tears and the nurse consoled me and I couldn't help but feeling guilty.....We headed home exhausted. Ellie was worn out and scared mostly because of us.....and our "first time parent" inadequacies. She proceeded to cry the remainder of the night and we were up with her the whole night crying with her......
Kids don't come with instructions and they don't come with receipts.
This is stuff the books don't tell you.
Kids don't come with instructions and they don't come with receipts.
This is stuff the books don't tell you.
