Our little Gloworm

Let me fill you in on the past couple weeks.  Haddie Grace is now almost 2 weeks old, and the first week was a crazy one.  When she was 24 hours old she was jaundice**; she had high bilirubin levels.  We were planning on leaving the hospital around 1pm on Wednesday, but of course that didn't happen because the theme of Haddie Grace's birth was: it's not supposed to be like this.  When the nurse practitioner came around Wednesday morning she ordered them to repeat the bilirubin test at 2pm and pending the results we could leave Wednesday evening.  Well, of course her levels were higher (and apparently were in the "dangerously" high zone) so she had to stay in the hospital an extra night on phototherapy.  I was discharged, but thankfully there was extra space so they allowed us to stay in the hospital an extra night as "nesters" so we didn't have to go home without our baby.  If we had to leave her there overnight I would have lost it.  Actually I wouldn't have left...I would have slept in the waiting room or something and figured out a way to nurse her, but thankfully it didn't come to that.

**A quick note of clarification for those of you unfamiliar with jaundice.  (Again this is just as I understand so don't take my explanation into any scientific exam...)  Jaundice is a yellowish pigmentation of the skin (and mucus membranes) caused by high bilirubin levels.  Bilirubin is basically a byproduct produced by your body as it breaks down red blood cells.  Your body is constantly breaking down red blood cells and your liver works to rid your body of the bilirubin.  A newborn's liver has not fully developed so sometimes it has trouble  When babies are born they have a very high concentration of red blood cells that were necessary in utero.  Those red blood cells are broken down after birth which can sometimes cause high bilirubin levels in the newborn.  Jaundice is more common in exclusively breastfed infants.  My pediatrician said that 95% of breastfed infants have some form of jaundice (not all of those require phototherapy) which has led some to question as to whether there is some physical benefit to being slightly jaundice at birth.  Anyhow, the dangers of jaundice is that if the bilirubin levels get too high the bilirubin crosses the blood brain barrier and can cause brain damage- worst case scenario. 

So Haddie Grace was put on "moderate phototherapy" in the hospital.  Basically, she laid on top and underneath UV lights that help the body excrete bilirubin.  The lights in the hospital were actually pretty neat because they were 2 pads that were not connected to the bed.  So I could still hold her and nurse her "under" the lights.

Baby girl is stylin' with her sunglasses and tan...  In fact someone came to visit us at home the other day and one of the first thing she commented on was how "tan" Haddie Grace was compared to Chris, Phoebe and I.  That's because she spent the fist several days of her life in a tanning bed...

They re-tested her levels Thursday morning and again Thursday afternoon before she was discharged home with a bili-bed for continued phototherapy at home.  After multiple visits to Kennestone Hospital to have her blood drawn (via heel stick) at the outpatient lab, her levels came down low enough to stop the phototherapy on Sunday evening.  Poor baby's feet were like a little pin cushion.  I think we may need to go back to the hospital on Monday for one last heel stick just to make sure everything is within the normal range.

Whew, we were glad to finally get home and get rid of the lights!  I'd like to say things have been smooth sailing from there, but then of course there's breast feeding...  I'm beginning to wonder if God didn't intend for me to nurse babies...
Linking up with The Friday Baby Shower, YOLO Mondays, Mommy Mondays, and Monday Mingling