Is she jaundiced or does she just have a really great mid summer tan???The past few weeks have been filled with joy and worry! It's funny how when a baby is growing inside you there seems to be so much to worry about: are they healthy, are all the parts in the right spots, are there the right number of parts, etc. You think about how wonderful it will be once they arrive because you'll have all the answers to your worries. That is, of course, until a whole new set of worries develops once the baby is born!
Avery's arrival has brought such a feeling of joy into our home and we are all completely smitten with her. Her arrival has also brought a whole new set of worries! Starting the Friday after Avery was born, the particular worries have been over her constant state of "yellowness"! Avery, like all my children in their first days of life, was jaundiced. We layed her in the window to receive the ever important sun rays but it didn't seem to help. We took her to the doctor and after her poor foot being poked, got the results that her billirubin level was 18.2. The doctors like to keep them below 20 and anything above starts to get scary. Within a few hours of getting the results, a "Billi-blanket" was delivered and we had to keep Avery wrapped in it 24/7- except when we were changing her. Not ideal to snuggle a baby with who looks like a "Glo-Worm" but not the worst thing in the world either!
Our little glow worm snuggling with Daddy!The next morning, mom and I took Avery back to the doctor for another billirubin check. Later that day the results came in that she'd gone UP!! WHAT???? Up to 19.8. I was trying to keep it together, but didn't do so well at holding back the tears and worry! My poor baby was looking more and more like a Lemon instead of a peach! When we got home it was back on the blanket and another 24 hours of her having a "tail" (mom started calling the machine and all its fixins that- and that's what it looked like). Sunday morning dawned and back to the doctor we went. Another poke to poor Avery's foot, more waiting for results. Finally the call came and she was down to 17.4. Yeah, we're on our way down. We kept her on the blanket and the next morning headed off to the doctor AGAIN! Another poke, more waiting and WHAT???? She'd gone back up to 18.5.
My poor Pediatrician had to spend some time calming me down and reassuring me that he wouldn't let anything happen to Avery, that we'd figure this out and she'd be fine. I was a wreck and of course in my post pardum state of hormonal emotion came apart! After such a difficult pregnancy, why couldn't she just be okay? It didn't make sense!
After pulling myself together, the doctor instructed that we keep her on the billi-blanket until Thursday, to save her poor little heels from being poked a million more times. Thursday came and again, she was poked, tested, and the results came back at 18! You've got to be kidding! Finally the good doctor told us to take her off the lights, and actually stop nursing her for 24 hours, supplementing with formula. He suspected that she had Breastmilk Jaundice, a rare, relatively harmless type of jaundice that affects only about 2% of babies. Something in the breastmilk blocks the liver from breaking down the billirubin. It eventually works itself out, but to see if thats what it was I had to stop nursing her for a day. As hard as that was to do, I pumped and fed her formula. Friday we went back to the doctor for what we hoped would be the last time. After poking her to test her billirubin, the doctor also tested her hematocrit (Red Blood Cells) to see if they were low, which would mean a whole different set of issues. If her hematocrits were too low she'd need a blood transfusion, which we did NOT want to have happen! Within a few minutes the hematocrit test came back at 55, which is really good. The doctor was relieved as he told us the result and though we didn't have her billirubin levels back yet, he was VERY confident that she had breastmilk jaundice. He told us to go back to nursing her, take her off the lights and her levels would eventually go down. That night the doctor on call called and told us her level had dropped down to 15.5 and that it was for sure Breastmilk Jaundice. She was in the clear and her levels would continue to slowly go down!
The Glo-Worm and her tail!
The relief and gratitude I felt was so wonderful. I am so happy that Avery is okay and so grateful for answered prayers! Thank you to everyone who prayed for her. She is gaining weight and slowly turning into the little "Peach" we have been waiting for!
4 comments:
That is scarey! I'm so glad everything is ok though. She is so cute.
Poor little baby girl. She's so stinking cute, even though she was yellow! Love her!
Ohhh, poor baby and poor mommy!!
I remember going through that with Drew! He was in a bed though so a blanket would have been much easier since shielding his eyes so he wouldn't go BLIND made me crazy!! Strange little livers and such....you don't think about how much shock their little bodies must be going through as they quickly transition from in the womb to the real world!!
I'm so glad she is okay!!!
Jaundice is the worst! I feel your pain! After Madison was born, she had to be under the lights in the hospital. As soon as we got home, lights were delivered and back under the lights she went. The next day at her bili check, her levels were so high (23 I think) that we had to be admitted to the hospital so that they could make sure they got them under control. After 24 hours we went home and thought all was well. WRONG! Again, at her bili check they had gone back up. I burst into tears and the lights came back. Finally, this time the levels went down. I can totally relate to the "breaking down." Jaundice is so scary and the constant lights and checking the levels is just stressful and exhausting. I am so glad that all is well now.
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