Will had another great day today! I called this morning to check and resolved the formula issue, posted about that earlier.. turns out that formula isn't real "formula" but an elemental breakdown of nutrition like pre-digested stuff. He recieved 2 tiny feedings of it today, only a few drops each.
His CPAP machine broke between when I called and when I went to the hospital, and while they were trying to fix it they put him on canula (justa tube with oxygen). He was doing so well on that they decided to leave him on it and see how he does. Doc explained to me before when I asked that often they try just to find out what the baby can handle and treatment involves a lot of trial and error, and there is a lot of grey area where babies are on and off the CPAP while making the transition. He was on the canula about 6 hours, but his evening blood gas test didn't come back optimal so they put him back on the CPAP after we went home but it's a start! I also got to try kangaroo care (skin to skin contact) tonight! I got to hold him about 40 minutes and he did great aside from wiggling aroundinto a strange position.
There was some drama today too. When I got to the hospital I encountered the doc before I got to Will's room and he told me about the CPAP removal. Once I got into his room his nurse was doing care (diaper change etc). After the basic introductions etc I was taking pictures of him as usual and asked if anyone had tried to call us about the CPAP removal and she said no, so I said oh, well we're supposed to be contacted with any changes and pointed to a sign on his isolette. I said it in a friendly, neutral sort of tone, obviously not accusing her of anything, and she had a total hissy fit at me! She started telling me how she had been so busy with the other baby she was assigned to that day that she'd only been in to check on him briefly, and that she'd only been back with him a moment when I arrived, that the respiratory tech and another doc were caring for him during the CPAP/canula switch and she wasn't involved, and that she didn't consider that a "significant change" anyway which is what the sign says to call for. I figured everyone is entitled to a slip in judgement now and then, so while I wasn't happy about it I let it slide, just interested in seeing my son. Then she waited a moment and started back in again! She started just ranting and venting at me about how she was annoyed I would expect her to call and frustrated by what I said, in a very rude tone of voice, gesturing around and handling Will roughly since she was visibly ticked off. I stopped her mid-sentence, pretty annoyed myself at that point, and told her there was NO need to be getting an attitude with me, it was just a question. She finished up what she was doing right that moment and left the room, obviously pretending to be doing something with her phone. She didn't secure the canula before she left, and right after she did Will pulled it off. Within a couple moments his oxygen saturation sank into the low 80s and set off an alarm. Nobody responded. After about a minute it sank down into the 70s and the alarm turned red. I let that go on about 20 seconds and still nobody responded, Will was obviously in distress and crying so I replaced it myself and was holding it on and trying to calm him, his saturation was going back up and the alarm had just turned itself off when she finally saw fit to come back, and then had the nerve to snap at me for handling him and interfering in her care. So I was quiet a moment and asked in the sweetest voice I could to speak to the charge nurse - her boss. She finished taking care of him and left, and about 10 minutes later I went to ask at the front desk for the charge nurse, met her and ultimately ended up speaking in her office for about 40 minutes.
Apparently the nurse had tried to cover her ass and spoken to the charge nurse first and admitted wrongdoing in her attitude with me but failed to mention her care of my son. The charge nurse was especially concerned nobody responded to the alarm, if it goes on for more than a moment the other nurses in the pod are supposed to respond and not one did. It was an amiable conversation and she agreed I hadn't done anything wrong and that this was not the quality of care they find acceptable. We also discussed my request to be informed of everything and my frustration that it wasn't happening, and came to an agreement on a few things we can do to fix it. She asked what I wanted to do for Will's care for the rest of the day and I told her I was fine with that nurse caring for him so long as she was willing to still provide him with the best care, but if she felt there would be an emotional issue between us that would interefere with that then I was not comfortable with her continuing to care for my son. We also discussed the trainee nurses, which I phrased on how it makes him more tired when care takes longer, and she agreed to give him a break. So Will's nurse was just as nice as could be the rest of the day and made a big show of checking on him. I wouldn't call her friendly or polite, she was the type of person who smiles with their mouth and glares with their eyes. I just don't want to cause too many problems, we've already been labeled problem parents for demanding to be informed about our son's care, I don't need to be labeled a problem parent for attitude and getting people in trouble! I don't want the other nurses to feel like they're walking on eggshells around us or any other problems that might jeopardize Will's quality of care. So there's a lasting concern about that and we'll see how it works out.
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