I just got home from a 24 hour stay in the hospital with Taliesin.
I had been worried about a few things. At his 3 day check I asked them to test his bili levels again because he seemed to be jaundiced to me. They told me that he wasnt yellow enough to worry about and that if anything changed to let them know. He was nursing like a champ, every 1-3 hours, and was wetting 8 diapers a day. I was still really nervous because he seemed to be getting lighter, even though he was on the breast pretty often (not 24-7 like his sisters were- but very often). He also had brickdust crystals in his diapers every time I changed him (a sign of dehydration)- I had also brought that up with the doc when we went for his 3 day check. Also was a little nervous because he had not pooped since we left the hospital.
Our week after weight in was on Monday. He dropped from birth weight of 6 pounds 13 ounces down to 5 pounds 8 ounces in 10 days. They were very concerned about his coloring and the lack of pooping. So we had his bili level drawn again. He was severely jaundiced and dehydrated and it was causing a failure to thrive. We were sent to our children's hospital. Aprently what I thought was my laid back baby (which I was excited about after having 2 very high needs little ones) was actually a sick baby who was slipping away from me.
He was so exausted from being jaundiced and lack of fluids that he could not actually swallow much of the milk. The doctors told me that it was the fact that I am tandum nursing his bigger sister that allowed him to get enough to eat to make it this far safely, and keep my milk supply up.
He had a night under the bili-light and a little extra feeding (1oz formula) after each nursing. I can replace the formula with breastmilk in a bottle as soon as I get enough pumped. We are on scheduled feeds- meaning no longer than 3 hours between and a lot of stopping to rewake the little man. He gained 2 oz in the 12 hours they were tracking him that night!- he really needed the extra fluids.
He is doing much better and we are home now. I hope that with a lot of love (and scheduled feeds) he will start gaining soon.
The process of feeding him takes about an hour to get through. I also cant nurse him while sleeping because I have to keep him awake enough to swallow. I am so never going to get to sleep again...
I had been worried about a few things. At his 3 day check I asked them to test his bili levels again because he seemed to be jaundiced to me. They told me that he wasnt yellow enough to worry about and that if anything changed to let them know. He was nursing like a champ, every 1-3 hours, and was wetting 8 diapers a day. I was still really nervous because he seemed to be getting lighter, even though he was on the breast pretty often (not 24-7 like his sisters were- but very often). He also had brickdust crystals in his diapers every time I changed him (a sign of dehydration)- I had also brought that up with the doc when we went for his 3 day check. Also was a little nervous because he had not pooped since we left the hospital.
Our week after weight in was on Monday. He dropped from birth weight of 6 pounds 13 ounces down to 5 pounds 8 ounces in 10 days. They were very concerned about his coloring and the lack of pooping. So we had his bili level drawn again. He was severely jaundiced and dehydrated and it was causing a failure to thrive. We were sent to our children's hospital. Aprently what I thought was my laid back baby (which I was excited about after having 2 very high needs little ones) was actually a sick baby who was slipping away from me.
He was so exausted from being jaundiced and lack of fluids that he could not actually swallow much of the milk. The doctors told me that it was the fact that I am tandum nursing his bigger sister that allowed him to get enough to eat to make it this far safely, and keep my milk supply up.He had a night under the bili-light and a little extra feeding (1oz formula) after each nursing. I can replace the formula with breastmilk in a bottle as soon as I get enough pumped. We are on scheduled feeds- meaning no longer than 3 hours between and a lot of stopping to rewake the little man. He gained 2 oz in the 12 hours they were tracking him that night!- he really needed the extra fluids.
He is doing much better and we are home now. I hope that with a lot of love (and scheduled feeds) he will start gaining soon.
The process of feeding him takes about an hour to get through. I also cant nurse him while sleeping because I have to keep him awake enough to swallow. I am so never going to get to sleep again...
)
