Joshua's mommy, Rachael, had been sleeping a couple of hours. It had been late at night when she had finally been allowed to move to the post-partum ward, which was closer to her baby. She had not seen him since delivery, and was anxious to hold him. The nurses were kind enough to get her the room directly across from the Level 2 nursery, where Joshua was in the first bed. She had been wheeled in and watched him for quite some time before they allowed her to cuddle him for 20 minutes....then he was too stressed and they had her get some sleep.
And then at 3:15 a.m. on Wednesday, nurse Beckie came into Rachael's room and told her that there was a problem.... Joshua was now on 3 liters of oxygen, his respiration's were extremely high, and he seemed to be worsening by the moment. She had already called for Life-Flight to come and fly him to the University of Utah NICU. (Primary Childrens is just as good, but their NICU was full...It turned out to be a great thing for this type of illness...they specialize in it) (also, the 2 hospitals are connected by a huge tube, so they share many doctors) The nurse had called in Joshua's pediatrician as well....and she (nurse Beckie), and the pulmonary specialist had sat by his bed for those hours trying to help him and keep him close to his mommy. They were very sad, but they knew he was way too sick to stay at the regular hospital!
IF THEY ONLY KNEW HOW RIGHT THEY WERE...
Soon after the Life-Flight team arrived they set out to put Joshy on a ventilator. It proved to be a daunting task. Joshua, who in utero, layed peacefully at the bottom of the womb for the entire pregnancy....turned out to be a real tough cookie. It took them several tries and an incredible amount of pain medicine and sedation to get it done! The nurses were exausted! He is a fighter! They also had to take another hour and put in a central line through his umbilical cord.
By the time he left Jordan Valley Medical Center at 6:30 a.m.
Joshua had 3 IV's (1 was a central line to his heart),
heart monitors, 2 blood oxygen sensors, a CO2 monitor on his head,
blood pressure monitors, a resperation monitor,
and a ventilator breathing for him at 530 breaths a minute.
It was the saddest thing I have ever seen.
But they were wonderful to him. They even let me (Mimi) follow them every step to the helicopter and film the whole "event" to remember through his life. Joshua's mommy was not yet able to walk that far, and his daddy was already waiting for his arrival at the U Of U, and I knew someday the video would mean something to them....so I have it all ready. I will try to upload it tomorrow.
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