Jaundice

Thursday, January 7th:

Just before being discharged from the hospital, the pediatrician on duty, Dr. Trundle, came to inform Dylan and I that Katelyn was Jaundice. I had heard of this before and knew that lots of babies had this issue. Initially, I was not concerned because I know that many times babies are sent home with bilirubin blankets and incubation-type lights to assist with this issue, but Katelyn was not sent home with any equipment. In severe cases, they keep the baby in the hospital and discharge the parents. Instead, we were informed that we could take Katelyn home, but needed to see a nurse practitioner the following afternoon at the pediatrician's office.

Friday, January 8th:

We went to our pediatrician's office for the nurse practitioner appointment that afternoon. They took a blood sample from Katelyn's heel, and had us deliver it to the lab at the hospital to ensure we would get quick results. Katelyn was put on a scale and now weighed 7lbs, 1oz. Losing 13 ozs in 4 days was troubling. They recommended supplementing breast milk with formula due to the fact that Katelyn was having trouble nursing. However, we decided to rent a breast pump from the hospital as back-up but continue to try nursing. If supplementing was necessary, we would give Katelyn breast milk with a bottle. Formula is not something we had planned for.

That evening, around 5pm, we get a call from the pediatrician's office. Katelyn's bilirubin levels had elevated. She would need to receive photo therapy via a bilirubin blanket. A company delivered the machine to our house that night. The light made her back glow blue and she had a 3 foot long hose that was similar to a tail for her. Luckily, it didn't seem to phase her. We were to keep her on this machine 24 hours a day until our next appointment on Sunday morning.

Sunday, January 10th:

We woke up early to take Katelyn to her doctor's appointment. After 36 hours of photo therapy, I was skeptical that her condition had improved enough to warrant the doctor discontinuing the therapy. Instead of going directly to the pediatrician's office, they asked us to take Katelyn to the hospital for blood testing. The bilirubin blood test was a fast process and the results were at the pediatrician's office in 15 minutes. 

Thankfully, our pediatrician had good news. Katelyn's bilirubin levels had decreased. Once the levels start declining, they do not increase. Therefore, the photo therapy was discontinued. Dr. Reynolds did let us know that it would take several weeks for the coloring to completely turn to normal, especially in the whites of Kate's eyes. Although she was a little orange, it was great to know that she was not in danger of being hospitalized or having brain damage. It was a little inconvenient with the blanket, but a simple fix. In addition, she had gained an ounce over the past 2 days. She now weighed 7 lbs, 2oz. All and all we couldn't ask for a better result that day :)