I knew my dream baby was to good to be true (ER visit last night)

[Satori]

I noticed dd had some yellow gunk in the corner of her eyes before we even left the hospital when she was 36 hours old but thought it was just gunk, yesterday at 6 days old I notice she's got yellow discharge and I'm thinking maybe she's got some kinda eye infection. Pedi can't see her till the 12th (which I'm PO'd about) and I had to see the OB yesterday thinking my incision was infected and he looks at her and says she needs to be seen TODAY, even if that means going to the ER. That's not infection but jaundice and they checked and dd's bili level was not checked before we left the hospital when she was born. I took her in to the ER last night and her level is 17 Today were basically to nurse like crazy to get her to poop more (she's already been a poop machine the last 2 days anyway!) and put her in a sunny window and bring her back in tonight to be checked again and if the level is rising we'll be admitted I knew she was a sleepy baby but nursing has been going very easy compared to dd who's bili never went over I think 12-14. My milk started coming in within 10 hours of the section and she's already back at her birth weight so no doubting she's not getting my milk. I'm just surprised the level got so high, only reason I can think of is she didn't start passing the mec until day 2 and we didn't see BF poo until day 5 or 6 (sorry, getting to tired to remember)

oh yeah, to add to our fun, they had her on the pulse ox machine last night and she's only satting 90-93% for some reason. If its still low tonight I'm going to insist she be transferred and admitted to children's hospital which is almost 3 hours away but its way better then anything we have locally and I trust them since dd has been going there for 5 years now.

edited to add: She's a dream baby from the stand point of very laid back easy to care for, happy to nurse every 2-3 hours, sleeps about 4 hours at a time at night, rarely cries unless she's hungry, wet or wants the paci. I can actually put her down and not only pee but throw in a load of laundry too and she's content. dd#1 came out high strung demanding to pick her up and NEVER put her down or she'd scream bloody murder. I thought maybe I got lucky, now i'm kinda worried the jaundice is just covering up that high needs baby lol!

[bri276]

not in this ddc- just had to add- the sunny window will NOT work unless it's open and direct sunlight is pouring in. outside would be much better! my dd was jaundice and in the NICU for a while, you'll get past it and your dream baby will be back! don't worry too much mama. be prepared for them to start pushing formula on you if it gets worse.

[eco_mama]

I just want to give you a Mama. That must be so frustrating but you'll get through this! Hang in there!!

[sehbub]

I promise it'll get better,mama!! DD was jaundiced and under the bili lights for several days in the NICU after birth. She should clear up soon!

Good luck!

[Caroline248]

17 is not that bad..hang in there. She just is passing peak time, so that is nothing for her peak. Take her outside, nurse her as much as possible. My daughter was severly jaundiced and ended up needing blood transfusions and such, but at peak time she was at a 29.

I know how scary and nerve-wracking this is....my prayers are with you guys!

~C~

[augustmom]

Satori, hang in there. She'll be just fine. Keep us posted. You'll be in my thoughts.

B

[littlemama06]

Hugs Satori

[shelbean91]

I'm glad you caught it when you did. My ds1 was admitted at 10 days old b/c of jaundice-bili levels of 22-23. He was under a double bank of lights for 2 days.

Ds2 also had elevated levels around 17-18, but b/c we caught it when we did, we were able to do a bili blanket at home instead of being admitted. If you're not familiar w/bili blanket, it basically looks like an adult blood pressure cuff that wraps around baby while they sleep. The only time I could take ds2 out was to feed him, but other than that, he was wrapped in the lights. We did that for 4 days and levels went down.

So, ask if you can do at home treatment instead of admitting, much less disruptive and IME just as effective. If we had caught the problem w/ds1 faster, we would have been able to do the same thing.

[Satori]

Originally Posted by shelbean91

So, ask if you can do at home treatment instead of admitting, much less disruptive and IME just as effective. If we had caught the problem w/ds1 faster, we would have been able to do the same thing.

I called my insurance company this morning about it and they wont pay for it, I figured look at the bright side, at least I'd get a break from my 5 yr old who's been a total monster since the baby came lol. Just trying to think positive

[shelbean91]

Originally Posted by Satori

I called my insurance company this morning about it and they wont pay for it, I figured look at the bright side, at least I'd get a break from my 5 yr old who's been a total monster since the baby came lol. Just trying to think positive

That's F'd up. Home treatment is way more cost effective than hospitalization, but logic isn't the case w/insurance companies, is it? Maybe ask the dr to call?

though, I see the appeal of a break from the 5 yo. My dd was not even 2 (23 mos) when ds1 was hosp, so it was a way different situation. It's stressful, but dh reminded me when I was freaking out that this is relatively benign and easy to correct. Hang in there and do your best to rest.

[Satori]

Were heading to childrens hospital in the morning, tonight she was sating at 90% and her bili is now up to 19. Idiot ER Dr had no problem sending home babies with bili's as high as 25! We'll be gone at least 2 days as its a 3 hour trip each way and we usually end up staying the night, hopefully we'll be able to get a room at RM House on the off chance we don't get admitted but i'm almost positive we'll be admitted.

[The4OfUs]

Big to your whole family, Satori! Will be thinking of you!

[littlemama06]

I will thinking of you.