Oh, mama bear instincts are REAL

gladdyola · August 2015

Today I took my sweet Isla for a little check up at our birth center. She's 5 days old today and such a sweet little angel! She barley cries (except when I'm changing her diaper she hates that). She has gained an ounce since her birth last week (hurray!!), already lost her cord stump, and we are very blessed to have her so healthy. I'm a proud mama.

But at this appointment, they did her PKU screening which involved a few little pricks at the heel to draw a little blood and let me tell you she did NOT like it. As I was holding her and she was screaming my ear (not sure if it was because of the pain or if she just hated having her foot messed with) it was my first time every hearing my sweet baby in distress and I lost it. Full on tears. I was so embarrassed but as a FTM I have never felt such a deep hurt than to have my baby in pain and not being able to really help her. She was fine as soon as I started nursing seconds the pricks were over, but Since that appointment, I have been so stressed and feel so guilty even though that screening is so important for her. The mama bear instincts are so real.

Also, here are a few pictures of Isla Anneliese :x

Miz_Liz · August 2015

I always made my DH help the nurses hold DS for his shots and then I grabbed him right away. Made me sick to my stomach every time, even though I knew it bothered me more than DS.

ChristyM87 · August 2015

I can imagine. My son was in NICU so I wasn't at his side for IV and needle sticks, but I know he got them. There was a brief moment when the doctor talked about doing a spinal tap, which as a medical professional I understood the medical reason for, but the thought of my own child going through that potentially was scary.

I don't know if it gets easier, but at least are LOs are tougher than we give them credit for

candicejeff2013 · August 2015

Awe bless her little heart. Haha I can only imagine!

emmacake08 · August 2015

What a little sweetie!

EmEeGee · August 2015

The irony for me is that I work in a cardiac ICU and we do serious open heart surgery on newborns. I personally am guilty of inflicting pain on lots of babies and I while I wasn't happy to be hurting them, I didn't think much of it because it's all necessary in the moment.

Well my girl needed her bilirubin levels checked this week and I did the same thing. Held her leg out for the tech and listened to her wail as they did a simple heel stick, while staring at the ceiling choking back my own tears. I definitely have a new perspective and it brings a whole new level of respect to our fellow A15 Mommas who have had to brave the NICU with their new babes. Being a mom is not for the weak of heart!

gladdyola · August 2015

Never imagined I'd be the over protective, emotional mama-type but there's no words to describe the feelings you get to guard the heck out of your little ones!!

countryrhodes90 · August 2015

Awww she is so beautiful!! Seeing all these cuties is driving me crazy I want mine to get here!!

mkillian27 · August 2015

Oh my your daughter is sooo adorable. I can understand how it could just break your heart to see her in distress.

CaliforniaDream87 · August 2015

Oh, poor baby. I remember how that felt. I still can't bare to watch DS get his shots. Ugh.

mjones0721 · August 2015

I cried every time they had to poke DS for shots or blood. He had surgery at 4 weeks and they had to get more blood than they could with a heel stick and took it out of a vein in his head. He didn't even cry but I bawled and literally almost passed out, vision went dark, room started spinning, it was horrible.

CarelessDiva89 · August 2015

What a cutie pie! I still get emotional anytime my kids go through something like that. A few months ago my youngest son had a fever of 103. I took him to the ER & had to watch them put an iv in, attempt a catheter multiple times & the worst part was because I was pregnant I couldn't hold him while they did an xray so they put him in this horrible contraption & he screamed & cried & looked at me to help him. Oh man I bawled like a baby. Being a mom can be such a tough job.

lrichhx05 · August 2015

Aw what a cutie! In the NICU I was there when DD got an IV and it broke my heart. She had to get multiple IVs and eventually a picc line but I was only there for the one IV. It's so hard to watch!

AshleyM0125 · August 2015

DH took DD for her first shots. He said he made the nurse hold her and he had to leave the room because he was afraid he was going to hit the nurse that was hurting DD! I didn't really get it but I took her to her next shots and I bawled more than she did. It was awful! DH hasn't taken her to the doctor alone since!

taylorharber1108 · August 2015

I feel the exact same way. DS had to have his heel pricked three times in the past two days, it seriously breaks my heart and I have cried everytime! It's amazing how much you can truly love someone.

gladdyola · August 2015

megvaddi said:
The irony for me is that I work in a cardiac ICU and we do serious open heart surgery on newborns. I personally am guilty of inflicting pain on lots of babies and I while I wasn't happy to be hurting them, I didn't think much of it because it's all necessary in the moment.

Well my girl needed her bilirubin levels checked this week and I did the same thing. Held her leg out for the tech and listened to her wail as they did a simple heel stick, while staring at the ceiling choking back my own tears. I definitely have a new perspective and it brings a whole new level of respect to our fellow A15 Mommas who have had to brave the NICU with their new babes. Being a mom is not for the weak of heart!

See! Even the mamas who are around this stuff all the time have a hard time with it with their own little ones. I felt like such a wimp considering I cried longer than she did but my heart has never hurt that bad.

kettlekitten · August 2015

I think it took me three rounds of DD's vaccinations over the space of a year to NOT need a helper to hold her so I could go away and cry while they did it!

toccoaparker · August 2015

They had to take a heel sample from LO today, thank goodness she was busy feeding when they did it, she barely even flinched! We have another one tomorrow so we will see how that goes! :-S

leighalou91 · August 2015

megvaddi said:
The irony for me is that I work in a cardiac ICU and we do serious open heart surgery on newborns. I personally am guilty of inflicting pain on lots of babies and I while I wasn't happy to be hurting them, I didn't think much of it because it's all necessary in the moment.

Well my girl needed her bilirubin levels checked this week and I did the same thing. Held her leg out for the tech and listened to her wail as they did a simple heel stick, while staring at the ceiling choking back my own tears. I definitely have a new perspective and it brings a whole new level of respect to our fellow A15 Mommas who have had to brave the NICU with their new babes. Being a mom is not for the weak of heart!

^^^ This! I work in a NICU. I am that person that gives the shots and starts the IVs on these precious babies. But like @megvaddi , I dont think too much of it because it is always necessary and for the best of the LOs. But, oh my gosh, having my own baby girl and watching her get the PKU screening done, I cried. @gladdyola I totally get that mama bear instinct that I never understood until now. I will take new perspective with me when I go back to work. NICU parents are strong. I definitely have a new respect for them.

irohspupil · August 2015

My baby girl had to get pricked four times for the same test because the stupid lab techs kept letting the blood clot :-( She had to go through this while receiving photo therapy for her high bilirubin. When the fourth prick came, I followed the nurse back to the lab and made damn sure that was the last vial.

EmEeGee · August 2015

@micshi Do you know how high her bili level was when they decided she needed the phototherapy? I'm curious what other dr's standards are.

irohspupil · August 2015

@megvaddi she was at an 18 when my pediatrician started phototherapy. This was when she was four days old.

GirlOnTheBeach · August 2015

Our little guy had to get so many heel pricks at the hospital due to them checking his sugar every couple hours and then doing blood tests on top of that. At first he never cried but by the last one, when the guy messed up and had to re-poke him and squeeze his little foot really hard, our LO was screaming in a way I've never heard him scream. :-( My DH was ready to hit that guy and I was crying. I couldn't stand it and it was a huge reason I accepted my doctor's offer to leave a day early. I wanted to get LO out of there before they could think of any other tests for him! When we got home, it took forever to get all the bandages off his feet and he still doesn't like anyone messing with his heels (he's almost 2 weeks old now).

EmEeGee · August 2015

micshi said:
@megvaddi she was at an 18 when my pediatrician started phototherapy. This was when she was four days old.

Thanks. My girls was 16.5 on the bilicheck skin scanner and 18.1 in her blood at 5 days old. They said their cutoff was 19. Hers was defined as breastfeeding failure at the time and my milk had just come in. On day 7 the bilicheck was 16.1 so they didn't make us get more blood drawn and said to just watch her color carefully and feed her really frequently but I'm really worried I won't be able to tell if it gets worse. Ugh.

irohspupil · August 2015

megvaddi said:

micshi said:
@megvaddi she was at an 18 when my pediatrician started phototherapy. This was when she was four days old.
Thanks. My girls was 16.5 on the bilicheck skin scanner and 18.1 in her blood at 5 days old. They said their cutoff was 19. Hers was defined as breastfeeding failure at the time and my milk had just come in. On day 7 the bilicheck was 16.1 so they didn't make us get more blood drawn and said to just watch her color carefully and feed her really frequently but I'm really worried I won't be able to tell if it gets worse. Ugh.

Interesting. The bilirubin count for my little one came from a blood draw. Hers was from a giant bruise on her head from the use of a vacuum during delivery, but there was some concern it could be Gilbert's since her daddy has it.

heidi8992 · August 2015

I watched a video on how a circumcision is done and I just cried the whole time thinking my little boy would have to go threw that pain. I don't know if I could do that to him now! But my SO definitely wants in done and that's the "norm" these days. I just hope to not here him cry!

gladdyola · August 2015

@micshi poor baby!!!!! :-S

CaliforniaDream87 · August 2015

heidi8992 said:
that's the "norm" these days. I just hope to not here him cry!

I wouldn't necessarily call circumcision the norm but to each their own.

@micshi poor thing

ChristyM87 · August 2015

heidi8992 said:
I watched a video on how a circumcision is done and I just cried the whole time thinking my little boy would have to go threw that pain. I don't know if I could do that to him now! But my SO definitely wants in done and that's the "norm" these days. I just hope to not here him cry!

It is not the norm, and even if it is that is not a reason to do it. This is a medical decision for your child and you and your SO need to be in agreement on getting your son circumcised or not. I have read statistics that as many as 40% of newborn males are not circumcised in the US, so barely more than half are, with the numbers dropping

My husband and I opted not to circumcise our LO, and while I am not saying that is the correct decision for you, I do think that you guys should talk it over more and come to an agreement.

dkizz82 · August 2015

Oh mama! I understand. My sweet Emmalyn had to have her blood sugar tested 5 times and her bilirubin tested 3 different times. Me and my mom both cried so hard we couldn't even console sweet girl. It is awful and I never want to have her go thru that again. I dread shots.

melanier26 · August 2015

We took our son to the pediatrician at 3 days old for a regular appointment and ended up being taken via ambulance to a hospital across town. Over the course of 5 days he had an IV and was pricked more times than I can count. At this point I have maybe cried more times in the past 3 weeks since he was born than I have in my entire life!