Mmmmmmm. . . .babies. 
Congratulations! Hurry home, Dylan!
Woohoo for fresh-squeezed Doperbabies! Congratulations to all the Smalls…hope he’s able to come home soon!
Hey, that’s a big small! 
He’s so cute!
Ooooh! Lookit those cheeks! Ripe for kisses and nibbles!
What a sweetie. I hope he gets to come home soon! You drive carefully in the meantime, you hear?
Such a cutie! Congrats, and good vibes sent that he gets to home very soon!
He really is lovely. I hope the three of you can get home and settled in very soon.
Thanks everyone for the well-wishing and all…please keep hoping they send him home. My wife talked to a nurse today and they told me and her both that he had been doing fine. Then a nurse called her back (they were having an issue and it was busy when we called) and explained that even though both nurses who checked his chart never mentioned it, there was a problem. He had more trouble with the oxygen, dropped down to a lower percentage, and fixed it about 30 seconds later. This is what happened before. We called the nurse twice yesterday before we drove up there and she said he was perfectly fine and had no more problems, but when we got there they found one that happened at 9pm the day before. This time, it was around midnight, and apparently both nurses we talked to on the phone had the chart with it marked on there, but told us he was fine. Now they are telling her that when the doctor told her 5 days, she meant 5 days from the last problem. Great, so now, if nothing else happens, it’s moved to Wednesday at least. I’m going up tomorrow and seeing the doctor. This is ridiculous because they tell us 3 different things, and all from reading the same chart and when we ask the same questions.
Maybe I can have him at home when he turns 1? Sorry for the angry post in MPSIMS but I needed to let someone know and I don’t know any people to talk to about it right now.
Brendon Small
Aw… I hope Dylan comes home perfectly healthy soon. That sounds like a scary situation for you and your wife. You might consider speaking with the hospital chaplain or social worker- they can help you process and get through this. Of course, we’re always here for you, too. I’m thinking of you guys!
Sorry, Brendon. 
That sucks. I would definitely talk to the doctor. Is there a head nurse, also maybe? That’s unacceptable, that they wouldn’t bother to give you complete information on your newborn baby!
Glad Dylan’s here, but so sorry about the inconsistent stories.
I would definitely try to get to a head nurse or doctor (whoever you can get to first) and ask for the complete story. Make clear that you need to know exactly what your son’s condition is and when you can expect to take him home. Can your doctor at home help?
Could be that they don’t know anything exactly, but if that’s the case, they should just be straight with you.
The suggestion of contacting a social worker is a good one too. S/he might be able to help you find the best way to get information.
Hopefully a medical Doper will be by soon and be able to give a more knowledgeable suggestion.
Keep us updated!
GT
My wife did meet with the social worker before she was discharged, but I was downstairs with Dylan at the time. I’m not sure what they talked about, but I know our doctor here (well, our pediatrician we picked, she’s in the next town over) has called to check on him at least once (when we changed the appointment, she called to see how he was doing). So far, everything has been great with the hospital until we had this issue with inconsistency in what they tell us. We somewhat have a solution worked out. I called the “head of discharge” (or something similar) nurse and she said that she understands what we are going through with this part and she knows exactly what we are referring to, but since we haven’t been keeping track of who told us what, all we can do is work on it from here. We’ve started an spreadsheet on my laptop so we can keep track of which nurse, what they told us, when he has had “episodes,” and time of call. The best we can do is that and then if it happens again there is a record of who should be accountable for it.
Our doctor is calling Mrs. Small when she gets in tomorrow morning, so around 8. The resident that delivered him and worked with him most has agreed to meet with us tomorrow as well, and I have sent her an email with the things I would like to discuss so she will know beforehand (it was very nice of the resident to email us, I’m glad she went out of her way to offer help to us). I am truly sorry about the last post, just because it came out kind of wrong. I had just heard the problem as I was reading and pretty much wrote it while angry, so now that I’ve calmed down we’ve started working toward solutions with the hospital.
The bad news is that it could be something that is going to keep him in for some time, or keep him needing more doctoral visits than normal, but there is good news. The doctors have told us that any time this has ever happened he has corrected it completely on his own. He was on oxygen until 6am on Tuesday, but since then he was simply in the bed in ICU. He has been off any medications for at least a day. It’s good that he is doing better than he was when he was first delivered, but I can’t help but feel a little like a hotel zombie tonight, checking in guests only to eat their brains! - well, nothing that interesting, but I do feel a little lost. Luckily, I have found out I can be at the hospital tomorrow, so come 7 am, I will be gone.
Brendon Small
Also, I wanted to add that I’m at work and kind of lonely (of course, sitting at a desk all night alone and all) - but reading this thread just makes me feel more comfortable. I appreciate all the responses and I am very much fine, just worried, and reading this makes me think about all the good things to come (of course, that is because of all the “my son…” or “my daughter…” threads that have made me smile over the time I’ve read this board)
Sometimes I feel closer to the people on this message board than those who are in my life everyday.* I’m glad that I’ve been able to discuss random topics with some of the smartest on the web (isn’t Stephen Hawking a member now?) Thank you for everything, Dopers.
Brendon Small
*Note: not referring to my wife or closest family specifically, but some coworkers/friends/family who I do see all the time and feel not so close to anymore.
brendon_small, you can not fathom the extent to which I feel incredibly awkward about this, but, well, um, do you guys need anything? Doper baby shower, anyone?
Jelymag - although I really appreciate the offer, we actually don’t need anything. I’m just waiting…We’ve actually been pretty much okay with everything because my older sister has a son who just turned 1 year old a few months ago. All his small clothes that he can not wear, along with all his old things, came to our house. We have had the nursery set up for a month, bed and changing table and everything. I guess we could use some milk, as I found the expired milk in the fridge when I got back today, but that isn’t exactly baby shower worthy. Actually, the offer was amazing (goodness, making me feel close to you dopers even more!). It’s funny where help is offered from.
My cousin that I haven’t talked to in years was first to offer me his small apartment in Columbus to stay in, but my parents were hesitant about me being at their summer home (I think it was because of me having to drive so much - it’s slightly - 30 minutes - further away and I have been killing myself with the driving - but I know I need to back off a little and get rest, so I’m taking steps in that direction)
I got to work and a coworker offered to go over and cut the grass in my back yard. I was telling him I hoped to cut it today and tomorrow, since I was home, but I got the front done and it was wet in the back where the sun wasn’t on it all day, so I stopped. Since Dylan might not come home for a while, I decided I will go up tomorrow morning even though I work tonight and Sunday night, because I can’t go during the week because of work/school. My wife will be there all week though. My coworker offered to go cut the grass and clean up the house. I used to be pretty close to this guy 3 years ago when I moved here, but have hardly seen him since. He started here a week ago and I trained him for a few hours. It was a nice offer, but I had to decline.
I think the biggest thing is that I have so much going on - I work 40 hours (30 this week because I was gone Monday/Tuesday, but still) and have to be down here for presentations for school (I was excused through Thursday, but I needed to go back) so I can only make it to the hospital about 2 times this week. My wife is there all the time, but being gone gives me this overwhelming feeling of “I’m removed from the issue and shouldn’t be” or “I’m already not around enough…wow” and then I go through my hour long logic pep talk: “You are doing what you have to while she is off work and you have a family to support. You can miss these presentations and retake in the fall, but you would be out a large amount of money that you already spent. It is the responsible thing to do and it’s not bad…”
I just can’t help feeling a little awkward myself, but that’s ok…being a dad is a learning process.
Your little boy is a beautiful baby, wow, and not “small” at all-- you may have to change your username!
My stepson and his wife went through a similar experience to yours 4 years ago, when their son was born. He’s strong and healthy now, and no traces of his experience, but I remember how worried we were at the time.
Others may thing differently, but I think you’re doing the right thing by keeping the home fires stoked, so to speak. You’ve got a lot of responsibilities, and I just want to wish you strength and luck in handling all this.
I gotta go back and look at those pictures again. Thanks for sharing them!
Thanks for the update, brendon! I’ll keep you all in my prayers!
Well done! Great news! Congratulations!
Update again!!!
I just got back home (well, to my town to work) and my wife called. She just got to her parents’ for the night and called to check on him. At midnight, it will be 48 hours without any real oxygen problems. There has been some with his eating, but they are normal (as in he starts eating, it goes down, they pull the bottle away, he realizes he should breathe more, and he does good from there on in). We’re really hoping for no more problems.
I got to spend a few hours in ICU with him today. He slept on my chest the whole time. He may not be the small Small that was expected, but he is somewhat little - I guess that comes from being a baby and all.
Today, my wife fed him a bottle and he drank all 2 oz. - he never had a drop below 93% and ate fine. We’re hoping that continues. I appreciate all the thoughts from everyone here though, I may be going back in the morning and haven’t decided when I should leave here. The nurse today was very optimistic, and the resident ended up talking to my wife instead of me, but is trying as hard as possible to figure out everything so he can leave when he is ready, not a long time after. Today we attempted giving him slight oxygen while he ate to see if it helped - I believe what is normal is 21% and they had his at 23% - but with it on or off he held his breath just for a little bit when he started eating. She said that showed us that he is not having trouble physically doing it, because he can take the oxygen like normal and he doesn’t, it shows us that he is being stubborn and is slightly uncoordinated, but is getting better.
I’m still just hoping. I have new pictures, but my wife has the camera. I may be able to put them on here tomorrow.
Brendon Small
Well that is good news. Have they said anything about him having to use equipment at home? Looking forward to the new pics, he is beautiful.
They haven’t mentioned that yet. I don’t think he will have to because it is mostly when he eats that is the issue, and that wouldn’t keep him there. The few times it’s happened outside of feedings have been spontaneous but not numerous. In the 6 days since his first problems (which were a few in a few hours), he’s had maybe 3-4 big drops, and then he’s corrected it. They have become less common, and the doctor thinks it is mostly him getting used to eating, breathing, and, well, being a baby.
We have discussed feeding techniques with the resident. It seems that every so often, the nurse says he had a drop while feeding, but certain nurses and my wife have never had that problem. It is possible that the times it has happened are times they give him a bottle, keep it in his mouth the whole time, burp him, and lay him down. When the nurse we had today has him (3 different days so far) and my wife, the resident told them to try giving him a little bit of a bottle, just a few sucks, and then slowly taking it away and letting him catch his breath. Then they could start feeding him again, and every time they have done it that way, he has been fine.
We’re really hoping that there are no more problems…
Of course, I called my wife and she tried to explain to me how she couldn’t put the pictures on the computer. I have no idea why, and I figure it will be a day at least until I get them up. I promise to keep everyone updated though.
Brendon Small