Kambree's first few months of life were really hard. When I was in labor with her, I decided to get an epidural, and with that, they give you a catheter. Even though I had a bracelet stating that I had a latex allergy, and a detailed conversation with the RN, she still messed up and gave me a latex catheter. But the mistake was only found, when they were removing it. So, because of the latex catheter, it set us up for a whole world of problems.
While we were in the hospital, try as we might, we could not get Kambree to eat. I wanted to breast feed, so we were trying to get her to latch on, and all she would do is cry, hysterically. So, the nurse decided to try and entice her to latch on by squirting Similac Advanced formula, onto my nipple, hoping she would taste the milk, and begin nursing. I told the nurse that I was allergic to dairy, especially as a baby, but she reassured me that it wasn't enough to do anything.
In the midst of all of this, the awful pediatrician the hospital referred me to, told me that I needed to give her some formula to supplement until we can get her to latch on. He told me that most babies don't really learn to breast feed until the milk supply comes in, which is a few days after giving birth. He said that Kambree was lazy, and did not want to work for her food. Seriously. So, I said can I get some soy formula then, if you think she needs a little bit of formula, after explaining my allergy history. He explained that just because I was allergic to something does not mean that she would be, and proceeded to tell me she would be fine on milk-based formula. Well, that definitely was not the case. She ended up with hives so badly, her eyes were swelled shut. SWELLED SHUT!!!! I was infuriated.
So when we called Dr. Fox back up to the room, he checked her out, and said "It is probably a newborn rash, but to be on the safe side we will order in some Nutramigen formula. Which, is still considered milk-based formula, it just doesn't have as much milk-protein. They didn't have the Nutramigen in stock so they had to special order it in from IMC! Shouldn't the doc have just given her the soy??? Nope, that would have been easier. When the formula arrived to the hospital we fed her, and what a surprise, she broke out in hives, all over again.
All I could think, is if they had listened to me in the first place, Kambree would have been breast feeding, and feeling good, instead she was miserable. I was so upset. Why would they treat an innocent baby. like she was a lab rat? During all of this chaos, I continued to try to get her to latch on, and pumped my milk. No success with getting her to nurse. She wouldn't eat at all, not even from the bottle. The only thing that comforted her was her binky. They discharged us, knowing she wouldn't eat.
When we got home, it was the same as in the hospital. Even after my milk came in. I was trying to get her to nurse, and when she wouldn't I would pump. We did this every two hours. After pumping, I would put my milk in a bottle, and she still wouldn't eat. She was fussy, but there was nothing we could do.
Kambree had her newborn appointment two days later, with Dr. Fox. When we got there I explained that nothing had changed from when we were in the hospital. She would not eat, but she would suck on her binky. Can you guess what this JERK of a doctor told me??!! I NEED TO LET HER SCREAM MORE!!!!! He said eventually she would get hungry enough that she would eat, and that I am trying to baby her. Umm, hello?? She is like four days old....As we were leaving the clinic, I was enraged. I could have punch him in the face, I was so mad.
She went 7 days without hardly eating anything. I had a few days worth of milk stored in my fridge, that she hadn't so much as touched. Day 7, which was a Sunday, my mom left to go back home to California. Kambree literally slept all day. She didn't even wake up for her diaper changes. She was breathing, but just very lethargic. We called Dr. Fox. Since it wasn't during business hours, he said we could to the nearest kids care. Which, is a pediatric Insta Care. It was attached to Alta view hospital.
When we got to kids care, we met Dr. Bowers, who was an absolute life saver, literally. I explained everything to her. The hospital experience. Dr. Fox. Not eating. Everything. She checked her out, and then tried to feed her, no such luck. She said "It's like she doesn't know how to eat, even though she can suck on a binky." She asked me what her birth weight was, and I told her 7lbs, 4 oz. Kambree was now 5lbs 3 oz. Which is not normal. We rushed he over to Alta view and to have her blood drawn.
While waiting for the results, we went back to Kids Care.Dr. Bowers tried syringe feeding Kambree, and she ate the whole 2 ounces that way. Dr. Bowers said we were probably going to have to be admitted to Primary Children's Hospital. But she said we will await to make the decision until the blood work came back. After what seemed like forever, the results were in. Kambree was a little dehydrated, not enough for immediate action. She also said that her electrolytes, and everything else looked okay. That was very reassuring.
To our surprise, kids care is also Mountain View Pediatrics. Dr. Bowers referred us to Dr. Mitzi Conover, and told us that she takes her kids to Mitzi. Dr. Bowers said as long as we continue to syringe feed Kambree throughout the night, that we would not have to go to Primary's. We scheduled an appointment with Mitzi, for the following morning and went home.
Peter and I didn't get a bit of sleep. We woke Kambree up every two hours to syringe feed her 2 oz of breast milk. It took an hour to feed her, and after that, I had to pump. Needless to say it was a very long night.
When we met Dr. Conover, we loved her instantly. She was so friendly, attentive, and down to earth. She shook our hands, and said Please call me Mitzi. I was shocked, that she didn't want to be referred to as Doctor. I thought that was really unique, and wonderful. As we went through Kambree's first 8 days of life with Mitzi, she could not understand why both the hospital and Dr. Fox had sent us home. She could not understand why Dr. Fox blew us off, and said the things he had said to me. She assured me that, that was not her way of practice, and that the patient always comes first, and so does the parents concerns.
Dr. Conover explained to us that we were wonderful parents, to have kept Kambree alive, and well, for 8 days of not eating. She said that usually when this happens, babies end up admitted to the hospital after about four days. She commended us, which was very needed.
We then, went over the next steps, which included Lactation Specialists, Occupational Therapists, daily check ups, and possibly an NG feeding tube. So off we went to the lactation specialist, who sent us home with some very useful information, and a special bottle from Medela that should teach her how to nurse, once we get her to eat. After the LS, we went onto the Occupational therapist, who was absolutely wonderful. For the life of me, I can not remember her name, but as we went through Kambree's history we finally came to the conclusion that the latex catheter, was the start of all of our problems.
The OT said that it is not that she doesn't know how to eat. She knows how to suck on a binky just fine. The problem was that she was afraid of the food, because every time she tried to eat, she had a bad experience. We also learned that the nipples attached to the bottles in the hospital were made out of latex. So between the latex catheter, two milk incidences, and the latex nipples, every time she tried to eat she was experiencing pain. The only thing that she never associated pain with was the binky, which is why she wouldn't eat. Wow, what a relief. We finally had the answers we had been so desperately searching for. Thank you, LDS hospital for starting the problem, and thank you Dr. Fox for not only adding to, but not trying to solve the problem.
So, that night I called my family, to inform them of everything that had been going on. My Aunt Debbie came out immediately and probably bought a dozen bottles. Guess who got her to eat 4 oz, from a Doctor Brown's bottle??? The one, the only, as we call Aunt Debbie, the baby whisperer.
Since my Dad and Aunt live down the street from one another, we decided it would be best to go stay with my dad for the night. Aunt Debbie got Kambree to eat another 2 oz, when we made it to my dad's house in Bountiful, and then she said she was going to head home, but to call her if we couldn't get to her to eat. To our dismay, we could not get her to eat. We did not want to wake Aunt Debbie up, so we just dealt with Kambree screaming all night, while trying to get her to sleep.
Aunt Debbie wanted to come to Kambree's appointment in the morning with Mitzi, and was upset that we did not call her after struggling to get her to eat. She told me that she was awake any way. We left for the appointment, and when we got there Aunt Debbie told Mitzi, the progress we had made with feeding. I also discussed the new revelation from the appointment with the OT, Mitzi agreed with everything. Mitzi also said that as long as Kambree continued to make a little bit of progress, and not lose any more weight that we could have the weekend to see if we could get her to eat, before trying the NG tube.
So we went back to my dad's house, and Aunt Debbie tried everything we could to get Kambree to eat. Again, Kambree went back to not eating. Aunt Debbie bought every bottle you could think of, nothing worked. She stayed with us all day, and all night. Aunt Debbie spoke with a lactation specialist, and even got me on the breast feeding diet, fenugreek, and rented me a hospital grade pump. Don't I just have the most giving and amazing aunt??
By Sunday, no matter what we did everything we could think of, but still Kambree would not eat. Finally, Aunt Debbie had the most wonderful idea to attach the SNS (which is a bottle with a tube attached that you are supposed to tape to your nipple, to help with breast feeding) to the binky. It worked, although it took forever for her to eat. We were excited that Kambree was eating again.
We had another appointment with Mitzi on Monday, and despite our best efforts, Kambree had lost weight, and we needed to go forward with the NG tube. Thank goodness Aunt Debbie was there, because as they were inserting the tube, I broke down. I had never in my life felt so useless, and incompetent. I felt like a failure. After the NG tube was in place, Kambree's whole left side of her face swelled and turned red. Can you guess what the feeding tube was made of? If you guessed latex, you would be right. Mitzi felt so badly for not checking the material of the tube. They tried to put in a non latex tube, but it was just too large. Mitzi said that she did not want to traumatize us any further, so she was going to have a home health nurse come to my dads house to put the tube in place.
When the nurse got to my dad's house, it took her two seconds to put the tube in place. It was so fast. I think Kambree had finally given up the fight. We all were teary eyes, including my dad, at the very site of the tube in her nose. We gave her a feeding via NG tube, and she was fast a sleep. Apparently, Peter and I were so exhausted we fell asleep with Kambree in our bed, and Aunt Debbie came in about midnight to give Kambree another feeding. We slept right through it. Thank you Aunt Debbie!!!
By the next morning, Kambree ate perfectly. We had as Soothie bottle, which had the same nipple as the binky. We had tried getting her to drink out of that bottle before but never had any luck. Finally, she took a liking to this bottle. Three more feedings went by, without struggle, so Aunt Debbie called her daughter, my cousin Stephanie, who is a L&D nurse at Mountain West Medical Center in Tooele, to come remove the feeding tube. I was a little nervous to have the tube removed, but quickly learned that Kambree would not ever need the NG tube again. What a blessing!!!
We met with Mitzi, and told her about removing the tube, and how well she had done with eating. Her weight proved it too! She had gained a whole 6 ounces!!! Once Kambree learned to eat, she no longer has any interest in her binky. We continued seeing the OT, for a few more times, because she still needed help but, it was smooth sailing from there on out. I continued pumping my milk, and we stayed with my Dad and Tania, for another week.
As I sit here, and reflect on Kambree's first month of life, I am so thankful to have such a wonderful, and loving husband, who held my hand the entire time. He was so supportive, and helpful. He picked me back up, every time, I would break down. He helped me with all of the rough sleepless nights. I honestly can say that I could not have made it through that scary time with out him by my side.
I am thankful to my heavenly father, who provided me with the strength, to get through that month. I am so thankful, he watched over us, and kept Kambree alive. I am thankful that he blessed me with wonderful Doctor's, and staff, to help save this little life. I am thankful that he blessed us with all of the people that helped us, and continue to help us.
I am thankful for Dr. Bowers, and Dr. Mitzi Conover. Without them, who knows what would have happened. Dr. Bowers truly saved Kambree's life. Had she just wrote the situation off, this may not have been a happy ending. Mitzi, saved Kambree's life, too. She was so patient and understanding, and still is. Mitzi, and I have a wonderful friendship, and she is honestly the best pediatrician in the world. She is so empathetic, and was so gracious during those critical moments.
I am thankful to my dad and Tania, for opening their hearts, and doors, and allowing us to stay with them for the entire month, and for being so helpful, understanding, and supportive. Tania cooked, cleaned, helped us with our laundry, and helped out with Kambree. She was truly wonderful. My dad was my rock, he asked me how I was doing, and assured me everything would be okay. He truly has a soft spot for Kambree.
I am so in debt, and thankful for my Aunt Debbie. If it weren't for all of her time, love and money spent, I don't know what we would do. She stayed up all night to help with Kambree, and was with me every step of the way. She bought so many bottles, to try to get Kambree to eat. She attended all of the appointments. She is truly a life saver. We would not be where we are today with out her help with Kambree.
I am thankful for Grandma Wagner, for watching Iggee for the month. I am thankful for my cousin Stephanie for all of the advice, and for taking Kambree's NG tube out. I am thankful for my brothers, and sisters in law, for their support. I am thankful for Aunt Margie for coming out to Bountiful and watching Kambree, so I could nap. There are so many people I am thankful for, Ashley Metzger, Grandma, my mom, Nikki, Jodi, and anyone and everyone! I am sorry if I missed your name, but I am thankful for you as well!!!
By the way, I pumped for 8 weeks straight, every two hours. One day while I was bathing with Kambree, I had on my swimming suit, and she was rooting towards my breast. I looked at Peter and said "what should I do?" He said remove your top, and see if she will latch on. Guess what??!!! She did, we sat in the tube for an hour. We had to keep adding warm water, but she kept nursing!!! After that, I said goodbye to my handy dandy breast pump. Kambree breast fed with ease, and I was able to breast feed for an entire year! What a blessing. Mitzi said that it was the warm water, and the skin to skin contact that reset Kambree's want to breast feed. She said that Kambree was finally strong enough, to nurse. Mitzi applauded me for not giving up on breast feeding.
So here is a tip for you first time moms, having trouble breast feeding. Stick with it. It gets better, and easier. You and baby will get it. Hang in there.
Now without further adieu, here are some pictures of our experiences!!!
in her mouth. Look how red and swollen her mouth was.
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