Jaundice

So far we are trying to settle into life as a family and our biggest obstacle has been dealing with Kathryn's jaundice. I never realized it could be such a pain. Her bilirubin levels spiked on Friday at 16.8 and have come down to 15 today. So it looks like the worry should be over as it works its way out of her system. We've had to go back up to the hospital everyday since discharge so she could get her blood drawn and retested. The blood draw is a heel prick and then they squeeze the blood out into a vial. Her poor heels have been pricked so much already. The good thing is that we haven't had to go to the hospital lab everytime for these tests, which generally would be the standard. The nurses at the birth center have been welcoming us back to them, as long as they aren't too busy, and doing the test for us and sending it to the lab. They have been so AWESOME! I can't imagine not having them. They are so caring and supportive and really take time with us to make us feel more assured and comfortable and new parents. They've taken a lot of time with us to answer questions and concerns and they ask us a lot of questions too. We were there the other day for just the blood draw and we stayed for over an hour as they checked on how I was nursing, too make sure I was doing it right, and check her over, and ask lots of questions about how I'm doing and healing. It's made me feel much better as a first time parent because I tend to question a lot of what I'm doing. They've also been doing a lot of the phone calls to our pediatrician about her jaundice. They helped encourage home light therapy instead of having her admitted back into the hospital for light therapy. The billi blanket, as they call it, is really no billi blanket at all. It resembles a paddle that you place on the baby's back and then wrap her up in your own blanket. The paddle emits uv light which helps break down the billirubin so she can pass it out of her system. I'm also trying to feed her as much as possible. Overhydration can help flush it out of her system too. So dealing with jaundice has kind of taken over our routines. We go to our first pediatrician appointment tomorrow.

Other than that she's pretty adorable! She has her nights and day's backwards. Last night she kept me up all night long. I've tried napping a couple times today in preparation for tonight. My mom is here to help out now. Ryan goes back to work tomorrow.