This is a post WAY past due but since I'm back to blogging I feel as though I should write about it as it was a huge part of his first week of life.
At 5 days old (May 22nd), we went to his Pediatrician's office to be checked out for the first time since being discharged from the hospital. The second the NP walked in she said "wow, he's yellow". I couldn't see it. Was I blind to this yellow color she spoke of? My Mom could see it along with the NP and Dr. What was wrong with me?! Maybe I couldn't see it because he came out that color? Who knows.
They ordered for me to take him to get his Bilirubin checked to see if his numbers were too high. We did this 2 days after seeing her. If I had known how important it was, I would have done it sooner but neither the NP or the Dr made it seem like it was that bad.
May 24th, mine and Chris's 3rd wedding anniversary, we were sitting around enjoying our new baby, the company of my Mom and that we had been married for 3 years (wow) when the phone rang. Chris answered it to hear the Pediatrician on the other end.
He said "uh huh, ok, hold on" and then handed me the phone and said "it's not good".
Gee honey, thanks for making me think THE absolute worst thing possible.
She says "Preston's Bilirubin results came back and it's a 19 which is WAY too high. He needs to be admitted to the hospital, I have already called and reserved a bed for him. Please go as soon as you can."
I asked a few questions like, how long will he be there for, can I stay with him, etc.
As soon as I hung up the phone, I started bawling and Chris hugged me and said Preston would be ok.
I went outside where my Mom was reading a book by the pool and said, with tears streaming down my face, "he has to be admitted to the hospital for Jaundice."
I am SO thankful my Mom was still here because she assured me he would be ok and if he were to be admitted to the hospital for anything, this would be one of the better ones to be admitted for.
Thanks Mom but it didn't seem to ease my mind that my 1 WEEK OLD baby needed to be admitted to the hospital. I was heart broken. I wanted to fix it right away, take it from him so he wouldn't have to be poked and prodded again once we got to the hospital but I couldn't. All I could do was be there for him.
When we got there, the nurses were running our like crazy ladies. Come to find out, they were all home since there were no patients and got called in when they found out we were coming. They were happy to see us because it meant a paycheck for them. We ended up being their only patients which I loved. It was very quite and we were treated wonderfully! (Everyone at that hospital is just wonderful and I am so thankful to have had my sweet baby boy there.)
This is where the introduction of formula started. Apparently formula helps babies rid of said Bilirubin much faster because their urine output is higher. Odd, I know, I gave a little side eye to the nurses when they told me that too.
I was still able to breastfeed but then we'd top him off with an ounze of formula in hopes that it would also help him sleep better since he had to be nake. He HATED being naked the first few weeks and being unswaddled.
Well, he had be both while lying under his "sun tanning" lights.
This broke my heart! All I wanted to do was hold my baby and tell him it was going to be okay.
We also introduced the pacifier to help ease him of the pricks he would have to get numerous times to test his levels throughout the night. They dipped it in sugar water and then he'd take it and it would calm him down for a bit.
So teeny tiny with his binky and "sunglasses" on. The 2 white circles next to him are breast pads...use that as a comparison!
He had a rough time staying calm in the bassinet under the lights but both my Mom and I were there to console him when he needed it. I would take him out and cuddle him, feed him, or just talk to him and then put him back in for more "tanning" time.
I absolutely hated seeing my little man in a bassinet under these lights with little sunglasses on. He didn't like having his eyes covered at all either. Poor little guy!
These little hearts held on his "sunglasses".
We were able to leave in the am when the on-call Pediatrician checked Preston's levels again and had gone down to a 13 from a 20 the previous night. I was elated!
Chris had to work the next day so he was unable to go to the hospital with us. As much as he wanted to, he really needed the sleep and I had my Mom (thank God) so I was okay with him staying home.
Now that I look back at this, it wasn't so bad but at the time my hormones were all out of wack, I was adjusting to being a new Mommy and he was my pride and joy; I didn't want anything bad happening to him. He is a perfectly healthy little boy now!
