A Ride on the NICU Rollercoaster

We have offically purchased a ticket for a ride I never wanted to go on. You see, I hate roller coasters. Always have, always will. We boarded the NICU rollercoaster this morning at around 9:30 and from the second I got on, I have wanted to get off. We were frantically trying to get everything ready for Perron's arrival. I was barking orders at Stephen like a drill sargent and trying to determine if I had time to shower and go to the grocery store when I got the call. Perron's NICU nurse called and said Perron had an episode of bradycardia while sleeping (I will be calling it brady for short). Bradying as they refer to it, is when your heart rate slows down to a dangerous level and can be accompanied by apenea...a stoppage of breathing. It is a relatively common phenomena in preemies because their central nervous system is not always fully developed, but it was shocking for Perron because he has never had any episodes of A&B. He apparently dropped his heart rate down to 60 for 5 seconds. The good news is that he was able to bring it up on his own and did not loose his oxygen saturation or turn blue. The bad news is he should have never had it in the first place....

We raced to the hospital as soon as we got the call and waited for the neonatologist to get there for rounds. He told us that they are going to keep him for at least another 3 to 5 days for monitoring. They also are taking a ton of lab work to check for anemia and infection. Please pray that it is neither of those things. They went ahead and put an IV line in his head just in case they need to transfuse him or give him antibiotics. It is heartbreaking and terrifying all at the same time. It is so hard to imagine that just 4 short hours ago I was frantically trying to get all of the last minute things done before our night in the family room. Now we are looking at possible worst case scenarios and praying for the best and facing at least 3 more treacherous days in the NICU. Stephen and I obviously want what is best for him and what keeps him healthy, but it is very hard to realize we are not brining him home this weekend. I have certainly shed more than a few tears this morning, but I am trying to keep my emotions in check until we know exactly what is going on. Please pray that this was just an isolated incident and that the brady is not going to point to something much more serious. Please pray that our stay in the NICU is on the shorter end of the estimate. Please pray for Stephen and I. We worked so hard to concieve him and then worked even harder to get him here as safe as we could. I don't think my heart could bear it if something was wrong with him.

Love!