Zoe's Story

I realize the majority of you know something happened but don't know what happened.  I want to first off thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, positive thoughts and well wishes.  It means the world.  Here is the complete and full story of what exactly happened with Zoe that caused so much concern and panic.

Zoe was born Wednesday February 24th at 12:49 a.m. weighing in at 7.3lbs.  Immediately my doctor and the nurses could tell that she had swallowed more amniotic fluid than normal during delivery.  The hours following her birth she threw up A LOT...constantly.  All to be expected given the quantity of fluids consumed.   Because my milk had not yet come in, I was supplementing with formula.  The first day we must have soiled close to 20 shirts and blankets...NO JOKE!  The next morning her pediatrician came to check on her.  Her color was good, her billiruben counts were perfect, her weight was normal and we had a pretty good night with a lot less vomiting.  He and I both felt comfortable sending her home.  That another night in the hospital wasn't necessary. Because of the vomiting however, he wanted to see us in his office the next day.  Thursday afternoon was also good.  She had only 2 vomiting episodes.  So, Thursday night we were discharged and headed home.

We arrived home at 8pm.  At midnight I went to feed her and put her down for the night.  Immediately after her feeding she started vomiting.  This time it was different.  I could hear it in her stomach and throat and it was loud.  She was making awful gurgling sounds, coughing and choking.  This went on for an hour and a half while she continued to vomit every 15minutes.  When I laid her down  to change her diaper she stopped breathing and her body went STIFF as a board...this happened twice.  When Dominic said "I think we should take her to the hospital" I knew it wasn't my hormones causing me to be over emotional and panicked.

At 2 a.m., roughly 6 hours after we got home, we were back in the pediatric ER.  Immediately they started to draw blood and put an IV in.  She had dropped 1and 1/2 lbs, became jaundice, SEVERELY dehydrated and listless.  The Peds nurses tried 3 times to get an IV in Zoe and failed.  Her veins kept collapsing.  It took them over an hour just to draw the blood they needed to test her for RSV.  Afraid they were going to collapse any good veins that were left, a NICU nurse was called down to attempt to get an IV in her.  She tried 10 more times.  After sticking her repeatedly in the arms, foot, head and hands, she got the IV in her thumb.  By this time Zoe was so exhausted she looked like a rag doll. They could have poked her a hundred more times and she wouldn't have cried a bit.  She was then admitted to the NICU and incubated in an isolation room (because she had left the hospital for 6hrs, she was considered contaminated by NICU standards).  X-rays, blood work and testing began for any intestinal blockages and all sorts of other possible problems.  In the end, everything was right were it should be and working fine...for the most part.  She was diagnosed with an extreme case of reflux disease.

Almost all babies are born with reflux.  That's why they spit up.  RARELY is it so bad they have to be hospitalized for it.  Zoe's is one of those rare cases.  The fix is annoying but fairly easy and her reflux now becomes a laundry issue.  As she gets bigger she may outgrow it or she may need surgery. It all depends on her... how she grows, puts weight on and continues to tolerate her feeds.  Only time will tell.

So...for 4days we had to leave her in the hospital.  One of the hardest, most unnatural things for a mother to do. Something I wish no mother would ever have to do.  But after 4days, she's bounced back.  She's back up to her birth weight and with the help of meds and large quantities of rice cereal added to her milk....she was able to eat and stable enough to come home.  Yesterday we brought her home....for the 2nd and LAST time!!