Hi Dads,
Apologies if I don't use the correct acronyms/abbreviations that I've seen on this site...and apologies for a long first post.
My wife has recently given birth via C-section to our son who is honestly the best thing that's ever happened to us! He was 2 weeks premature but was absolutely fine and we were allowed to go home with him 2 days later with him having no issues other than him being tiny and early.
We were at home for a couple of days with my mother in law staying and helping and he was doing great until 2 days ago where he became lethargic, jaundiced and refused to eat when he needed to, crying for long periods of time before sleeping. He was breastfed and my wife was amazing at it, he would latch on really well, feed up to 30 minutes at a time and be content until his next feed.
Being lethargic and refusing to feed, we called the midwife who arranged an appointment with a paediatrician and he was ultimately admitted into the neonatal ward at our hospital due to their concerns for him being so sleepy. After some initial tests, he had very low blood sugars (2.1), >10% weight loss since birth and a possible infection, he was given glucogel along with some antibiotics and blood tests. They were not worried about his jaundice being the cause of all this.
He slowly began taking a combination of breast milk and formula and was becoming his usual self until today where he's knocking back boob and bottle like a champion and doing really well, with the hopes of coming back home in the next day or two :) We have our own en-suite room in the ward where he now sleeps in a crib next to us.
Ultimately, since this, I have had an extremely hard time sleeping (day or night), even when our son is asleep, as I keep thinking something bad will happen if I do and I'm not there to help if I have to. I always make sure my wife has everything she needs from snacks to sleep (despite her telling me to rest as well but she's in pain after the surgery and I want her to recover as quick as she can) and I'm always bottle feeding my son and helping changing him after my wife has breastfed for a bit...I'm guessing this is perfectly normal to feel somewhat like this after your first child but was hoping for any hints, tips, tricks and suggestions to get over this other dad's have used.
Again, apologies if this has been asked/posted a million times before...
Thanks!