A Case Of Newborn Jaundice

Ever since Kennedy was born, she has had a red skin tone to her.  She had a lot of bruising from coming down the birth canal and everyone said it would lighten up with time.  To us she never seemed to get any lighter and on Saturday really started to look like a pumpkin to us.  She was also very sleepy and only waking up for feeds.

We had a scheduled appointment on Sunday for a routine check and so we decided to wait it out until then.  I really wish we had not because when we got to the check up her bilirubin (the blood cells that make you look jaundice) were in the high range.  The nurse called our doctor and they sent us to cook children's right away.  I was very scared and cried all the way to the car.  Lincoln also had high bilirubin, but they were able to treat it with home light therapy.  Hers was so high that we had to go to the hospital.

When we arrived that admitted us quickly and put in an iv.  It was so painful to watch such a big needle go into her little arm.  They started the photo therapy right away while we waited for a room.  Here she is all hooked up in the bed.

I guess a girl has to start her tanning early these days.

After about 2 hours we were moved to a room for an overnight stay.  They had the room temp up to 90 degrees so she would not be cold in just her diaper.  Of course that made us uncomfortable, but it was worth it get her better.  They put me on a strict feeding schedule of nursing ever 1-2 hours.  Here she is out for one of her feedings.

She could only be out long enough to feed and then we put her back under the lights.  I was lucky that she wanted to sleep the whole time, because it looked so uncomfortable.  I only got 1.5 hrs of sleep that night and had no pain meds with me, so I was super tired and achy the next day.

They checked her level the next day around 2pm and by 4pm they said we could go home!  Her level was down to a safe range and she would need to be checked again in 24 hours at the regular doctors office.  Here are her cool sun glasses.

Here is Kennedy after we got home.  She looks a lot better to us, but we still needed to watch it since she was still somewhat red/yellow.

The next day we headed to the doctor to get her checked again.  We got to dress her up in her first outfit!  Look at the cute bow Jenny made for her.

Big yawn!

She was a pro for the last stick and barely cried.  Here levels went up a bit but are still in the safe range.  We are going to continue to watch it and feed her often.  She gets another check on Friday and hopefully we are in the clear at that time.  It has been a crazy adventure so far with her to say the least.  We are happy to be home again and sleeping in our own bed!  Hopefully it can stay that way.