Wake up call

I'm just going to come out and say it... last night was rough, really rough.

Monday morning we woke up excited and happy. Karsten had eaten all of his feeds throughout the night. He latched on perfectly and his discharge date was looking promising. I sent out messages to all of our family to show Karsten's progress. We planned discharge plans with the nurses and doctors. The week was looking bright and sunny!

That evening Karsten started spitting up more often than usual. He hated being put down and wanted to be held upright. Around 11:15pm I was finally able to get him settled and set him in a bouncer chair which he loved because it sat him upright. He had a full tummy, was sound asleep and happy. I was planning on heading back around 12:40am to give him a bath with his nurse, but around 12:30am we were woken up by a knock on our hospital room door. 

One of Karsten's nurses let us know that something was going on with Karsten, they had called the doctor in and he wanted to see us. Ryan and I rushed down the stairs. I knew that something serious had to be going on because the doctor doesn't get called in during the night unless it's something that needs to be addressed immediately. 

When we walked through the NICU doors we could hear him screaming. We saw that his room was full of people and the bright light that had never been used was turned on. One of our great doctors started explaining everything to us, he even drew a picture on the window which helped. My knees buckled, my vision was blurry and I could tell I was about to pass out. My blood pressure was sky rocketing and as embarrassing as it was I had to sit down. I've never worried so much that I worked myself to that point. But, I've also never been a mother until now. 

Part of Karsten's intestines were getting caught and twisted which was causing a hernia. He was spitting up green bile and was miserable from the pain of it all. They did an X-ray and blood tests to help them figure it all out. He had to have tubes put back down his throat to suction everything from his stomach out. He also had to have an IV put in his head and couldn't eat for 12 hours.  It was so hard to watch him search for food and cry from hunger and know that there was nothing we could do. He was also put back into his isolette bed so that they could watch his stomach closely. Ryan and I stayed by his bed until around 3:45am when the nurses told us to go get sleep, it was hard, but we knew we had to.

Today at 10:00am he was allowed to eat again which made him so happy. They removed his tubes in his mouth and put him back into his open crib bed. We fed him, dressed him and snuggled all morning.

Our doctor told us that surgery was needed to prevent this from happening again. We are lucky they found it so quickly, but if it were to happen again much more serious things could happen. The surgeon came and explained in detail what the surgery would do and why he needed it. They prefer to do it when the baby is much bigger, but they don't want to risk waiting much longer. There are risks with the surgery and so much preparation goes into it so that everything can go smoothly. He's one of the smallest babies they have had to do this on, but he's tough and I know he will be okay!

Karsten will have surgery on Thursday or Friday morning. It will last about an hour long and I imagine it will be the longest hour of my life. But I have faith that everything will be okay. 

I can't say it enough, but I am so thankful for the amazing nurses and doctors that have been with our son. They are amazing and truly care about our boy. It's wonderful and so comforting. 

He has a great surgeon team and we know it will go well. He will kick this hernia thing in the butt just like he has with everything else! 

I am so thankful for my loving husband who had the feeling that Karsten needed a blessing Monday morning even though at the time he was doing so well. I'm thankful that he listened to the prompting and went ahead with it. We have felt such strength and love. Thank you for the prayers and love that have been sent our way!