Isla Katherine is home after having it out with the Neo.

DH and I went to the NICU this past Sunday (our anniversary), we went every day but were hoping to bring her home...what a great gift that would have been.

I get to Isla's 8am feeding and her nurse tells me that Isla will be discharged (per what the Neo told her) and they are just waiting for the Neo to come in and sign the order. The nurse did say Isla had 2 bradys in the night but they were from her being a hard sleeper and we should have her sleep on us at night for the added stimulation she needs to help her heal. We can totally do that. I text DH, finish Isla's feed, go meet him, DS and DD for breakfast and I call the nurse when we are done to see if the Neo is there.

I'm told she is, she's going over Isla's chart and how soon can we be there? Uh, 5 mins. Off we go. The screen is put up, I'm nursing Isla, Emma got to meet Isla for the first time and the neo comes over. "Well, we're going to watch her some more. She had some bradys last night and we need to make sure there is no trend." I am lookin that at Isla's calendar and ask if that means a Saturday discharge date and the Neo got pissy with me. "She'll be here for AT LEAST 5 days." I am now in tears and my heart just sank. The Neo made some other snide comment then left.

DH and I come back that evening for her 8pm feed and meet her night nurse. Really sweet lady and she brings Isla's chart to go over it with us. She reads the Neo's notes of "monitor for 1 to 2 days for a trend of bradys". DH and I shake our heads...this makes 4 different stories from the same neo in 12 hours. I realize our nurses were only repeating what they were told and it isn't their fault. Bless Isla's nurses, they really took great care of her.

I came back on the net day to see Isla, help with her vitals, feedings, diapers, etc and I see the Neo again. She doesn't say two words to me and goes on about her rounds. I hear another mom sobbing about a similar situation as mine. I go to console her and she's a wreck. We walk out into the hall as we are venting (sometimes you just ned someone to hear you) and the Neo walks out of a patient's room. I couldn't help myself so I asked her why she would purposely mislead my daughter's nurses, chart something different and contradict herself to my husband and I about how long Isla will be there. She just smiled and said "You need to understand that she's a preemie and wasn't supposed to be here yet." I'm getting pissed and asked her if there was some part of MY pregnancy she was under the impression I was absent for? I let her have it. Could have been hormones, the NICU roller coaster, but I had enough. I told her if she believed that Isla would be there for weeks on end, fine just tell us that. DON'T tell her nurses and our family something different everytime. She gave me a smug smile and walked away.

Isla was discharged 2 days later thanks to a nurse who saw through the crap we were going through. The Neo asked Isla's nurse Tuesday what should be done with Isla and the nurse told her flat out "Send her home. She sleeps hard. That's all. Mom has been a NICU mom before, she knows infant CPR and how to stimulate the baby." The neo rolled her eyes "Really? Send her home?" The nurse stood up to her "YES! Send her home!" Our disacharge orders were put in within the hour. We've had her home since Tuesday afternoon and it's been great! No bradys, she is a hard sleeper and we sleep with her on us for the extra stimulation she needs. I have her results from her echocardiogram as well that advise no heart defects or abnormalities.

I went to my post partum check up yesterday and told my OB what was going on, had trouble with the Neo, Isla is home,... She stopped me, opened the door, whispered to the nurse practitioner and they both came back in.  "It was you? You called out Dr. 'neo'?" I told them I was the one who had enough of the Neo's mind games and it seemed like she had multiple personality disorder. They both laughed and said they can't stand working with her, she has a tendancy to get parent's hopes up, drop them fast and it's like she takes pride in it. My OB said she would have paid money to watch me tear into her. I just had a gut feeling she (the neo) wasn't being straight with me. I'm glad I told her what I thought, turns out the nurses believed us too and pushed for Isla's discharge.

Good luck with your preemies and their swift recoveries. God be with you and your families. Don't give up or think that you can't question what a doctor says. I am glad I said something about Isla's Neo, if we hadn't I think we'd still be there now.