Because of Owen's good health at birth and my relatively easy delivery, we were discharged from the hospital the afternoon of November 10th, a little more than 24 hours after his birth. At that time, Owen's bilirubin levels were normal. At our pediatrician's appointment the next day, he was a bit yellow and he had lost too much weight. Just like his big brother, he was a little tongue tied and having trouble latching and stimulating me to produce milk. His bili levels were higher, but not yet high enough for bili light intervention. I was instructed to make sure to feed him every two hours and come back in for a recheck in a few days. We came back in for a weight check, and he was getting more yellow from jaundice. He had not passed all the meconium yet and had not pooped for several days. We decided to snip his tongue tie as well to help him nurse better. Although he had started gaining weight, his bili levels were much higher and we had to go back to the hospital so he could hang out under the bilirubin lights.
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| My sunbathing baby |
We got a call that afternoon to come into the hospital as soon as possible. I threw some stuff for us in a bag, Austin gave Owen a blessing, and we were off to the hospital. It was a long, sleepless night as I tried to keep him under the lights, feed him, and pump in the interim to supplement with my own milk instead of formula. As we arrived at the hospital, he pooped a giant meconium poop which helps to get rid of the bilirubin, so that was a big relief for me and I'm sure it was for him as well! I watched TV to pass the time and it was the day of the terrorist attacks in Paris. It was a weird night to be up all night as the news reports came in. I reflected on the world that we brought Owen into and hoped and prayed that we could keep him safe! We had another blood test in the morning, and his levels were low enough for us to go home! Hooray! I gained a whole new appreciation for those who have infants that have to be in the hospital for longer- just one night was not fun, and he had a completely curable and non-lethal medical problem! I thank my Heavenly Father for watching over and blessing Owen with health.
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| What are you thinking about? |
Thank goodness my mom was in town. She had four kids with jaundice bad enough to require bili lights- and most were worse cases than Owen, so she knew it was not a huge deal and was able to reassure me every step of the way. She also caught the yellowing of the skin earlier than I did in my sleep deprived state, and helped encourage me to feed him more and pump when he was getting skinny. She helped keep Landon occupied, cooked, did laundry and cleaned so I could focus on Owen. What a blessing she was!
Landon was already having a hard time before Owen was born just with moving into a house from the hotel. It was a big adjustment that I had to be doing other things besides paying attention to him all day. When Owen arrived, he went into full-on crazy toddler mode! He was so emotional and so naughty! He even pulled the infant emergency alarm in our room in the hospital- causing 8 nurses to come running into our room thinking Owen was dying. He loved to pinch Owen and make him cry, and didn't quite understand why I had to feed him and take care of him so much. It seemed to be better if Austin or my mom took him out to the park, library, or other activities and just kept him away from Owen. That was hard for me because we wanted to keep Owen home away from germs, so I felt like I never saw Landon after being with him virtually 24/7 for the past few years. It made me sad to see him struggling so much!
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| Brothers in jammies! |
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