We haven't updated in a while because our life was turned upside down on November 2, 2010. Colt stopped eating Monday night around 10pm and began spitting up what looked like green/yellow bile. I called the pediatrician as soon as they opened and tried to set up an appointment with the lactation consultant. The pediatirician got us in that afternoon and checked Colt's bilirubin level. By that point, he hadn't eaten in 16 hours. She was concerned about how long it had been and called the lactation consultant and asked them to fit us in right away.
So off we went to Clarian North. We tried to feed him for almost an hour, with no success. Finally he started throwing up the bile everywhere. She told us we were going to need to stay the night. At 4:30 am they put an NG tube down his nose and hooked it up to suction. It immediately filled up the cannister with bile.
At shift change, the doctor came in and told us they would like to do a study on his intestines. They suspected he had a twist in his intestines and that it could require surgery. Justin went home to get us some clothes to stay another night and Colt and I went to the upper GI study. There-we were told something was wrong with his intestine and the doctor would explain it more. He told me Colt would need surgery and they were trying to find a space in the surgery schedule for him. It was 8:30 and he wanted us to get in surgery that morning- we just needed to hear from the surgeon. At 9:00am, the nurse came and told me they were just waiting for a wheelchair for me- they had found a space in the schedule and they wanted to take Colt to surgery right away. I called Justin to let him know to hurry back and he walked down the hallway just as they were wheeling us out.
We were surrounded by family while we waited to hear what Dr. Billmire had to say. After a little over an hour, she came and met Justin and I in a conference room. She said Colt had a LADS band around his intestine(the largest LADS band she had ever seen on an infant) and malrotation of the intestine. She was able to repair both, but left him intubated due to how mellow he was. They moved him to the NICU.
The next morning at 3:30, Colt managed to get ahold of his ET tube and pulled it out. He continued to breathe fine on his own, so they left it out and let me hold him. It was the first time we had been able to hold him due to him needing to be under the bilirubin lights 24/7. The doctors told us Colt would not be able to eat for 3-5 days as his intestines healed. It was so difficult to watch him get frustrated at not being able to eat. I had seen patients at the hospital go through the same thing, but I had no idea how hard it would be to watch our son lay there hungry.
On day 6 (Tuesday am) they let us start to feed him. We had let him have a pacifier while we couldn't feed him hoping he wouldn't lose the ability to suck. He did wonderfully on his first feeding! Everyday he got a little better and on day 9 we were able to go home.
It was by far the most difficult thing we have endured. Justin and I both can see flashbacks when we close our eyes of what Colt looked like before we were able to get to the hospital and get help. Watching him suffer at home was difficult, but staying on the NICU was not easy either. We spent the nights at his bedside hoping that each morning would bring the opportunity for him to eat. On one particularly tough morning, I stood in morning rounds and cried with the doctors as we tried to figure out where we were going. I was at my breaking point when the doctor looked at me and said- you know that you saved his life.
We both cried more than we thought possible and could not believe the outpouring of love and prayers. We feel incredibly blessed to have such great family and friends. Our faith brought us through such a difficult time, and we thank God for giving us our son.
