When MacKay was four days old, we took him to our pediatrician and had him tested for jaundice. I thought he looked very yellow but the doctor wasn't too concerned. The following morning they called us to tell us that MacKay needed to have another blood test as his levels were a bit too high. After taking him down to Children's Hospital and having his blood drawn again, the nurse said his levels were even higher and he would need to be put under the bili lights. I really like my kids' pediatrician. However, his nurse sort of drives me bananas. She told me that MacKay's bilirubin levels were dangerously high and if I didn't start giving him formula, then he would have to be hospitalized. I was told to pump my milk and wait to give it to him until his bilirubin levels lowered. Yikes. Needless to say, I was a wreck. My milk had just come in and I had plenty to spare. I also had come down with a terrible cold and wanted to make sure my little guy had the antibodies from my milk. But MacKay was pretty lethargic and wouldn't even make those little newborn noises when he was sleeping. He wouldn't even wake up when he was being pricked with needles and having his blood drawn. It was very tiring for him to nurse so I did go ahead and pump. After doing some of my own research on the matter and talking to a different nurse, I went ahead and gave him my expressed milk when he was too tired to latch on. Little MacKay loved being wrapped up in the bili blanket. The machine made a little buzzing noise and produced heat. At night, Bart and I had to set our alarm to wake up MacKay every three hours to eat. He was our nightlight with the blue light wrapped around his belly. We were all pretty tired--- so tired that I fell asleep on our bedroom floor for three hours in the middle of the night.
All the feeding and bili lights worked because the following day, after his third blood draw, his levels were starting to lower. By Monday afternoon, MacKay was taken off of the lights and we could snuggle our little guy without him being attached to a big old machine.
Here's some pics of MacKay. He loved those little blue lights.
5 comments:
I'm so glad he is doing better. You've got to love health care. Sometime they cause way more stress then needed. I hope you start to get a little more sleep. Good luck.
Congratulations on the new baby! He is adorable. I'm glad he is doing much better.
I am glad he is doing better and that Whitney's surgery went well.
This reminds me of when Jake was born. I wish that they would have let me have one of those blankets at home. I got to spend a couple of days in Primary's. He had a bunch of cords and monitors hooked up to him. I think the hardest part was when they had to put an IV in him. I am glad that MacKay is doing well now:)
I am glad he is doing better!! I hate when baby are jaundice and all they want you to do is give formula! Breast milk is much better but they worry that the baby is not eating enough thats why they want you to give formula. But if you pump your milk and give it to them then it is not a big deal. Good for you for doing that!
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