Knowing the NICU

When we got the word that Marisa would be going to the NICU after crashing in the day treatment area, I was actually relieved.  You see I had been there before.  When her big sis Nadia was born in 1996, she contracted Salmonella (from me! - that's a long story....), and she ended up being transported in an incubator in an ambulance from her birth hospital to one of our local childrens' hospitals.  When she got there they had no idea what was wrong with her.  She was spiking a high fever, bleeding rectally, and unable to eat.  By the 6th day, they had grown cultures, ruled out all sorts of other possibilities, and narrowed her diagnosis down to Salmonella.  She and I became statistics in an outbreak due to tainted alfalfa sprouts in the state of Oregon.  So much for eating healthy food!  I caught the food poisoning sometime in the final 2 weeks of my pregnancy, and Nadia caught it from me.  Talk about feeling like the worst mother who ever lived! Ironically, I never did have the symptoms usually associated with Salmonella.  I had an upset stomach a couple of times, but I was between 39-40 weeks pregnant, so that was normal. My OB/Gyn and I just laughed it off at the time and I wasn't tested for anything.

I tell people that I will never have the experience of having a baby and bringing them right home.  Both of mine had life-threatening illnesses and roller coaster rides in the NICU.  The blessing in our experience with Nadia, though, is that I already knew what the NICU looked like (same hospital for both girls), and knew what to expect when I got there.  I wasn't with Marisa when she crashed because Adam had taken her for her appointment with the Hematologist and I stayed home with a sick Nadia.  I didn't get to the hospital until the next morning.  My 7 year old needed me first.  So, when I walked in to the NICU I was prepared to see my little baby hooked up to all manner of tubes, IV's, monitors, etc., etc.  Not what any Mom wants to see in their worst nightmares, but I knew she was in good hands.  The Neonatologist who admitted Marisa was even the first doctor to examine Nadia 7 years before.  What a small world!