During our hospital stay I was pretty nervous about the amount of weight Tess would lose. She had SO MUCH poop as well as a lot of fluid so I knew both could affect her weight loss. I told the nurses up front that I would not be giving any formula, regardless of her weight loss report. Thankfully when we left the hospital she weighed 6 lbs 10 oz which was only a 6 oz loss and they said that was totally within normal range 🙂 Whew!
Our hospital has a policy where you go home for a couple days then they have you come back to do a check-up on the baby. We got discharged from the hospital on Saturday and had to go back up there on Monday. With the stomach bug hitting our house it actually all worked out pretty well for that appointment. The big kids were at G-Mama’s to avoid getting Tess sick and Zach had come home Sunday so he could rest and feel better. He felt a LOT better on Monday but still stayed home from work to rest up and so he could go to the hospital appointment with me.
The appointment was at 1 and she ate at 11:30 so we just left as soon as she was done eating to get up there early and hopefully get back early as well. Zach picked out her outfit for her to wear for the big event…it’s one of Britt’s old ones that my mom actually got for her. Love the little bird on it!
She slept in the car on the way there and stayed asleep when we got there too!
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Tess failed her hearing exam. I was pretty nervous about this hospital visit because it’s where they would be retesting her. If she failed it again we’d have to go see a specialist. By the time of the appointment I was feeling MUCH better about her passing since
we had done a good bit of talking to her and could tell she can hear out of the left ear (the ear she failed). I also had done my research about it and had talked to some friends who also said their babies failed and then passed the second time around. Even feeling better about it, I was still a nervous wreck when we got there and it was time for them to test her!
I’m SO glad we had kept her asleep in the car seat b/c the nurse took the whole car seat to the exam and said her being asleep would help. She told us it could take 5 min or it could take an hour and we couldn’t go with her for the test. Ugh. It was a LONG wait even though it probably was less than 10 min. I was just dying! The nurse came in and didn’t tell us right away whether she passed or failed! When she said she passed I said “Praise the LORD!” and the nurse looked at me like I was a crazy person! I guess they really do have to retest a lot of babies and must never be too concerned about it haha.
We discussed her dirty and wet diapers and I told the nurse that I had stopped tracking them the day we got home from the hospital because the count was like a million. Seriously child had constant wet and dirty diapers. All my babies have been that way which is a HUGE blessing. I heard a lady with her baby say to the nurse that hers had only had 3 poop diapers since leaving the hospital. I’m sure that’s a normal amount but I am thankful my kids have always had too many to even track.
She weighed her and said she was so shocked to see that Tess had gained 4 OZ since leaving the hospital two days prior! YAY!!! She was 6 lbs 14 oz! Only 2 oz shy of her birth weight 🙂 As a breastfeeding mama, nothing makes you prouder 🙂
The nurse also did her jaundice test and I am STILL in disbelief that the child didn’t have jaundice. Her skin is SO dark and pretty!!! How is that possible?!?! Even in some pics I’ve been editing of her I can see a yellowish tint which I always thought meant jaundice?!! I’m glad she passed the test and I guess she just has naturally dark skin (my little Pocahontas). I did keep her next to the window during pretty much all of our hospital stay. I did that so we’d have good lighting for pictures (I left the shade opened literally all day, every day that we were there. Natural light is the BEST for good pics! I was sweating like crazy but it was worth it haha). I didn’t even think about it helping Tess if she was jaundice but Mrs. Charlotte came to visit us up there and commented on how smart it was to keep her in the natural sunlight like that. Maybe it helped without me even realizing it?!?!
She also told us that Tess’s breasts are swollen due to hormones and that it’s very normal. She said her privates don’t look swollen at all (they were in the hospital big time!) and not to be surprised if she had a period. Whhhhhat?!?! I have NEVER heard of newborn girls having a period?!?! She said it could happen. Thankfully it DIDN’T! But I’m glad she warned me b/c if I saw blood down there I would have FREAKED. She did have a little white discharge but that’s it.
The nurse did lecture us a little about doing better cleaning her cord stump with alcohol at each diaper change. I’m sorry but I HATE that. It seemed like it bothered her so I didn’t do it that hardcore. I also knew once we went to our pediatrician that he’d tell us not to clean it so often.
I was SO thankful for such a good appointment!!! We have a perfect healthy baby girl and we couldn’t be more blessed!!!
We still had over an hour until her next feeding and child was DEAD asleep. I was feeling so good and so happy I told Zach we should go on a date! I mean why not? Go grab some lunch together while she sleeps! We rarely get alone time just us and her so why not take advantage? He thought I was nuts and reminded me about the pertussis concerns. Oh yeah. That! So we didn’t go anywhere and instead went home 😉
My work has been featured on Love What Matters, Today Parenting and Babywise.Life. I'm also honored to be a member of the Babywise Friendly Blog Network.
You can read more about our family on my About Me page. Also be sure to follow along with me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest!
- What I’m Gifting My Family: 2024 - November 21, 2024
- Effective Parenting Tips to Discipline a 5 Year Old Child - September 24, 2024
- Happy 9th Birthday to My Daughter – Letter to Tess from Mom - August 26, 2024
