Our time at the hospital

Overall, we had a positive hospital experience.  Compared to our experience with Brennan, it seemed that the medical staff did not bother us as much overnight.  Although, it likely helped that Gavin passed his three part sugar test without difficulty and we had a little more time in the evening after he was born for Mommy to receive shots and give blood samples.

Gavin proved to be a good sleeper our first night at the hospital.  He was fed around 12:30am before dozing off.  Mommy woke up at 5:30am and panicked that he hadn't eaten!  Despite several attempts, Gavin didn't eat until about 10:00am, deciding that sleep was more important! 

Early Tuesday morning, we were given the option to leave later that day.  We were surprised that they would allow us to leave so soon, considering he was only about 12 hours old at the time of the offer!  We declined and stayed until early afternoon on Wednesday.  We were left alone most of the day on Tuesday, which lead to a busy morning of hearing tests, assessments with the pediatrician, and Gavin's "surgery" on Wednesday morning.

Since Gavin's heart looked typical during his 22 week ultrasound, we did not have additional tests completed as we did with Brennan.  We talked with the pediatrician about Mommy's family history of coarctation of the aorta.  Because of this history, they paid close attention to the signs and symptoms and didn't observe any!  Also, a pediatrician noticed a soft murmur on Tuesday, explaining that newborns commonly lose the murmur on their own.  Before leaving on Wednesday, the murmur was gone.

Overnight Tuesday/Wednesday, Gavin had a few episodes of choking, causing him to flail his arms and legs and gasp for air.  We immediately called for the night shift nurse, who stated, "Babies do that sometimes."  Unsatisfied with her answer, we talked to the day shift nurse and pediatrician.  They explained that babies sometimes choke on mucus and recommended using the  bulb syringe and having him sleep on a slight incline for a few days.

Brennan met his baby brother on Tuesday morning, happily sporting his "Best Brother In The Universe" shirt from Grandma Mealy!  He seemed excited to see us, but was quickly distracted by blocks in the hospital room.  He gladly posed for a picture with Gavin and gave him a sweet kiss before leaving.  He also had his chin stitches removed while at the hospital.