36 weeker - 1 week old now & having a hard time with jaundice

[MandyGail]

X posted in preemie forum - but got no responses yet

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?

[wendizbaby]

We had some jaundice issues, though ours didn't get that high.  I did some research on it and found that jaundice levels are higher and stick around longer in breastfed babies.  http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/breastfeeding/special-situations/babies-jaundice

I also found that sometimes phototherapy doesn't lower levels significantly.  Stress is also a contributing factor.  

Fortunately, our levels went down with the biliblanket and lots of breastfeeding.  I woke my baby up every 1.5 hours and made him eat.  I got him down to his diaper and kept tickling his feet.  I was considering spoon feeding my son formula as a supplement if that didn't work to try to get it to pass quicker.  

Good luck with those levels!!  I hope they come down soon.  I know how stressful it can be!

[Baby_Cakes]

Babies with jaundice are soooo sleepy, but it's very important to encourage her to eat often (every hour if possible).  Some jaundice is normal, so you're doing the right thing following your gut.  Most babies don't need formula supplementation.

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/breastfeeding/special-situations/babies-jaundice

If you decide to supplement, make sure you pump your milk so that your supply does not suffer and you can put baby back to the breast once the levels of bilirubin come down.  Most HCP's no longer think this is necessary, and that longer term jaundice is just a variation of normal.

[GoMamaMel]

DS had really high jaundice levels when he was a week old. He was admitted to the hospital too.. i've been there mama! Its no fun way to spend the first week of your LO's life. im so sorry mama.

With DS i found out that he had a tongue tie, and so he wasnt getting enough breast milk when he was eating. this caused dehydration which led to the jaundice. I had to use a nipple shield that was given to me by the lactation consultant in the hospital.

I agree with other who commented before me, keep that baby eating. Breast milk is the best thing to flush out that jaundice! If you're not already, keep a journal of those diapers with all the details... color, wetness, all of that. It was helpful for me to be able to show the Dr. and to know if DS was eating enough.