Paxton is here!!!

[wendizbaby]

Hi Ladies!

Sorry for not updating sooner.  It has been a really crazy few days (as you can imagine).  I'll update about the birth later, but we had him at 3:50 pm on Monday the 14th.  I delivered at a different hospital then the one I had with my ds1 and it's been a very different experience.  For one, it is a national company that owns this hospital so they have a ton of protocols that drove me nuts.  The first is that they labelled Paxton a premie (at 36 weeks, 1 day), which he is, but that set off a whole other chain of premie protocols which involved testing him frequently and stressing the both of us out.  So I had to deal with that for two days and now we are having issues with jaundice. He was prescribed the bilibed, which after strapping blinders on his eyes and having him scream for 5 minutes while on it, I decided we will not be going down that route.  He also has the biliblanket which I am okay with because he sleeps peacefully while on it.  I am also breastfeeding like crazy.  Anyone have experience with this?  

Anyway, this isn't a pregnancy issue, so I'll find more advice on this in our private group or the parenting group.  

I am loving my little man and cannot get enough of him.  My 5 year old has been great with him and so far, no jealousy issues.  

I'll jump on when things settle down to see how you are all doing!!!  

Happy birthing vibes to all of you!

[SierraBella]

He is beautiful!!!

I've been thinking about you! Glad to know he arrived safely!

[dsb76]

Congrats!!!  Paxton is beautiful.

My little guys were 36 weekers too.  And while they did not have jaundice (they remained under the curve) they had other preemie issues.  There seems to be a lot of variation at 36 weeks - some babies acting completely full term and others acting more like preemies.

It is great you are nursing so well!

Congratulations again!

[Mummoth]

Oh my gosh, look at all that hair! He's so cute! Congrats!

[LilMomma83]

Congrats! He is gorgious!

[nymama531]

he is so gorgeous, gets me so excited!! he doesn't look like a premie, he looks nice and chunky :)

[ZoeJane'sMommy]

Congrats, this is amazing!!! So glad you both made it through healthy!! I have never heard of that jaundice medicine stuff. I cannot wait to you guys get past the jaundice and baby is feeling GOOD!!!! Congrats again.

[SierraBella]

Originally Posted by nymama531 

he is so gorgeous, gets me so excited!! he doesn't look like a premie, he looks nice and chunky :)

I agree! How much did he weigh?

[AveryLamb]

He is gorgeous!! Congratulations!!!

[onetwoten]

One of the last books I was reading- I think it was Heart and Hands, talked about how some amount of jaundice was actually normal in breastfed babies, as long as it appeared after about 2 days, and not immediately at birth. I don't have the book with me anymore, but could be worth looking up, especially if the treatments are bothering him. 

But I agree-- he looks gorgeous and healthy! Looks like you really do just bake your babies quickly. Can't wait to hear more about it!

[BennyPai]

  CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Thanks so much for sharing, wendizbaby.  He is beautiful. 
 

[cwill]

Ah, he is so lovely.  I can't believe how coo-y I'm getting about all these babies.  I'm only 34+5, but I want mine!

[Mizelenius]

He is so adorable!!! 

I think all of my kids have had jaundice (none born before 38 weeks, too).  The best advice I can give you is to get him nekkid for nursing and make sure to tickle his feet when you are nursing if he falls asleep too soon.  You want him to stay awake and really nurse for awhile before drifting off to sleep. 

ANY sun (through a window) helps, too, though I have not had to do that.

[AveryLamb]

My little siblings always had jaundice as babies...I thought it was normal. lol We always put them in front of a window for a couple days.

[Amanda Williams]

He is precious! I'm so happy for you. :)

[futuremamaheather]

What a cutie pie!! Congrats, and welcome to the world, Paxton!!

[musicmama08]

Congrats!  I'm from the November boards, but wanted to say that it's really important to make sure he's nursing enough with the jaundice and his body is continually getting flushed out. (enough pees and poops) Billirubin is a toxin, and at high enough levels can cause severe brain damage.  The billiblanket and nursing with weight gain should prevent that.  We just had a bad experience here with that with my first (luckily not severe brain damage, but it almost was there), so it is a serious thing to keep an eye on.

[Ruthiegirl]

He's fabulous!!!!    Congratulations.  I am so happy for you.  

[wendizbaby]

Thanks, Everyone!  Yes...he is a pudgy baby for 36 weeks.  The nurses all agreed that he did not look like a premie (they said the same thing about my ds1).  They said the only thing that looks premature on him are the bottom of his feet.  His footprint isn't very defined yet...pretty smooth.

So...the jaundice.  Thanks for the advice.  I did not do the bilibed because it seemed like torture, so I breastfed like crazy and did the biliblanket.  I woke him up every 1.5 -2 hours and spent about an hour breastfeeding him until he was pushing it away.  :)  He had a poopy diaper nearly every time I woke him.  I'm glad I didn't go so far to do the bilibed because he had a blood test done today and he went down into the moderate range.  The doctor had expected him to actually go up 1 point, but he went down 3 (on a 20 point scale).  So we are done having to worry about that.

Just some information for y'all - yes, jaundice IS normal for every child.  Premature babies have a more difficult time getting rid of the bilirubin, causing more severe cases of jaundice.  Also, breastfed babies tend to have higher levels that stick around longer then formula fed babies.  Dr. Sears has a great description of it on his site.  Hope this helps for anyone who might be presented with this issue.  

[aeterna]

Awwww, what a gorgeous little boy!! Congratulations, he is absolutely beautiful and I am sure you are amazingly happy to have him out in the world with you. =)))