36 weeker now 1 week old - jaundice wont go away

[MandyGail]

I had dd 8 days ago in a wonderful un-eventful homebirth.  She  had to go into the hospital for some breathing difficulties that were resolved in the first 24 hours & she was released with a bilirubin level of 6.2 at 25 hours.

a few days later bilirubin was 16.2 so we got a biliblanket & she was on that for about 12 hours

bilirubin checked the next day it was up to 19.2 so into the hospital we go

at the hospital after 12 hours of lights the number went down to 18.1

another 12 hours 17.5, they took the overhead lights off & had her just on the biliblanket & it went down to 14.2 so they released us (on thanksgiving day thankfully!!)

We did the biliblanket for another 18ish hours & back to the docs - number was back up to 15.5 - doc decided to keep biliblanket on for another 2.5 days (because of the weekend) and then re-check on monday

She had been doing great with feeding & peeing & pooping, but today I just feel like she is sooooo sleepy & very hard to wake & not peeing & pooping as much as the day before.  She's also  not nursing as well because she's so sleepy.

Im wondering if anyone else has had such a problem gettting rid of the jaundice & why would it seem to come back (indicated by poor feeding & sleepyness)

Ive started doing some finger feeds with a syringe & pumped milk to keep her intake up and today was the first day of sun so we've had her in the sun for a while this morning - I hate that I have to wait till tomorrow to see the doc now-

Any words of advice/encouragement would be greatly appreciated - my fear is that for some reason the jaundice has gone back up to higher dangerous levels & we'd need to be back in the hospital, but since we aren't checking till tomorrow - we dont know

How common is it to deal with it going back up after phototherapy?

[preemieprincess]

It troubles me that I just read "preemie" and "homebirth" in the same sentence. Any responsible midwife should have sent you to a hospital, for both your own and the baby's health. Issues like the jaundice you described are why preemies should *NEVER* be born at home, and why your baby should still be in a medical facility, or under the care of a home health nurse several days a week. My daughter (born at 34 weeks) had serious issues with jaundice, and needed three weeks of a billiblanket round the clock. We had a home health nurse make visits several days a week for her first three months out of the hospital, giving us advice on feeding issues, jaundice, and other issues that are rarely of concern in a full term baby.

As a mom of a NICU graduate myself, I am grateful I swallowed my pride and ditched the homebirth plan. Had it not been for the medical intervention before, during, and after my daughter's birth, both of us would have died.

[MandyGail]

Issues were resolved under the care of doctors both in and out of the hospital - our homebirth was wonderful & as an experienced mom of 4, I, along with my midwife, knew when medical intervention was necessary.  Maybe you missed the part where I said that we did transfer to the hospital??   Thankfully the jaundice was resolved over the next few days with the biliblanket & she is one month old & thriving.  I would not have changed a thing. 

Did you miss the part where I asked for words of encouragement?  Glad you didnt post this while I was upset and worried...