My Baby's Jaundice Story

My precious baby girl's first week in this world was not very good to her. Or her mommy and daddy. The events of that week were so very upsetting to us and heart breaking. I cried every time I talked about it, which is why nobody knows about it. But now that it's all behind us, I want to record it. When you read this, some of you will think it's no big deal and that I freaked out over nothing. But it was a very big deal to me! Nobody wants to see their first baby in this condition the day after their born! Even though it was a somewhat minor problem, I sure have learned to be CRAZY grateful for my baby's health and my heart aches for those who watch their children deal with any kind of pain. I'll try to tell the short version of the story, hopefully you make it through this post!

In the hospital, the day she was born, the doctor told us that her biliruben levels were a little high and that he wanted us to get them tested again the next day. It didn't even phase me! Tons of kids get jaundice! We'll keep her in the sunlight and no biggie! So, the next day, she got her foot poked and here biliruben level was 14.5. I reported that to the nurse (idiot nurse), and she did nothing. Said nothing. So I assumed we were all good! Then, later that night, I looked at Harlow, and she looked like this:

Yikes! She's orange! I kind of started to freak out. I was telling my mom and Michael how I just felt uncomfortable with how she looked and how the nurse didn't give me any info. It was 9:30 PM by now, so I called the on call nurse. I told her that Harlow's level was 14.5, and she said "what?!, go to the emergency room". I of course, began crying instantly. My baby in the ER!? I hate that idea! She quickly called back and said just to go to pediatrics and that the doctor was going to meet us there. And to pack our bags because we'd be staying. I was a mess. That is upsetting news. We just got our baby home, and now we had to take her back!

They tested her again when we got there and her levels were up to 17 by this point. Over 20 is risking liver and brain damage. Her jaundice was bad. I'm so very thankful that my mom encouraged me to call the nurse. I'm so very thankful that I noticed that she looked worse. They then spent 2, count 'em-2, hours trying to get an IV in my angel. They tried every vein. They poked her OVER AND OVER and she screamed until she lost her voice. It was the most awful experience. This is 3 of the nurses who tried, the eventually had to get the NICU nurses and the FINALLY got the IV in her poor foot.

It's now 2 or 3 AM and they explained that she would receive fluids from the IV because the high biliruben had made her dehydrated. Then, she would sit under the bili lights all night. We could only take her out to feed her. Michael asked if this was the same amount of lights they would put on a normal jaundice baby, and the nurse told us that this was way more, stronger lights. She had them coming at her from all angles.

It was the worst thing EVER to see my little princess just stuck in that bed. We stayed up all night just waiting for feeding time so we could hold her and kiss her and remind her that life gets better!

To make matters worse, our nurse in pediatrics was CRAZY annoying. Oh my gosh, I nearly knocked her out. Seriously, I won't go into detail, but she was nuts. The next morning, the doctor came to check on us, her levels had gone down to 12 yayy! So, he said we could go home, but she had to be under lights at home. That sucked just as bad. She was trapped in a tiny box that was too small for her so she couldn't even stretch out her legs.

She stayed in her little box for I think 4 ish days. I don't know, it all runs together. Again, we could only take her out to feed her. The worst part was that her eyes had to be covered with a hat and a mask. It was so awful. Even if she was wide awake, I had to cover her pretty eyes. I felt so evil. She worked it though. She looked cute even with a mask on, and she was a perfect angel in the box. She just layed there and enjoyed the heat :).

I love this one, She's so precious, it's like she's trying to escape. Throughout this process, she had to have her levels tested pretty much every other day, so she has 4 poke marks in each foot. No wonder she hates her car seat, every time we put her in it, she goes somewhere where she has to get poked! The good news. It worked! Her biliruben levels are normal now and my little love is freeeeee! Like I said, obviously there are worse things, but all I wanted to do was snuggle this baby I'd been waiting to hold for 9 months and I just had to watch her in a box. Boo :(. Now, her skin is glowing and beautiful and we're having all kinds of fun :)