Jaundice

You hear about every baby having jaundice.  But one does not fully understand what jaundice is or can do to your child until the doctor starts spilling out words you do not understand.  'Your child's bilirubin levels have doubled and we need to retest her.'  Huh?  What is bilirubin and what does that have to do with jaundice?  Lets go back to the beginning.  While I was in the hospital in labor, there are a ton of papers that the hospital gives you to read.  One of them is about jaundice.  I thought jaundice was harmless.  I had jaundice when I was a baby and had to be put in front of a window everyday.  However, now jaundice has been linked to cerebral palsy and severe brain damage.  When my daughter was tested at the hospital, her level was 8.9.  An average person like me who does not fully understand the levels and what is a good or bad number.  I had no idea what 8.9 meant.  The nurse said that it was low and nothing to worry about.

Jaundice turns your baby yellow and in severe cases, their eyes turn yellow too.  When their eyes are yellow, that is when the bilirubin levels have increased to a dangerous level.  Day two of my baby being home, her eyes started to turn yellow.  Thanks to the papers at the hospital that I had read, I was in pure panic mode!  I quickly called her doctor and was seen and tested that day.  That afternoon her doctor called me to tell me that her levels have almost doubled to 15.3 and he wants to retest her the next day.  I was in tears but somehow asked him what we can do in the meantime to try and get her levels down.  He said that the best thing for her is to put her in front of a sunny window.  So for hours upon hours, my husband and I would sit with her in front of a window.  She loved the sun!  Before putting her in the sun, she was always sleeping.  Granted she is a newborn, but we rarely saw her awake.  However, in the sun, she was so happy and energetic.  The next day we went back to the doctor and she was retested.  Her level had increased slightly more, but they would not tell me the number this time.  I was reassured that although her number is a little bit higher, the doctor does not seem concerned and does not believe she needs to be hospitalized yet.  We had to make another appointment to have her tested again.  Again, we stayed in front of a sunny window for hours and hours.  I really enjoyed seeing my daughter so full of life!

In the mean time, my husband and father have been surfing the web and have made themselves upset with results and answers to their questions.  My husband found that there are three different kinds of jaundice and one of them is breast fed jaundice.  When he said those words, it was like slow motion to me.  My heart sank, could I really be causing my baby's jaundice problem?  I pulled myself together and took advantage of every possible moment with my daughter.  The next day, she was tested for the fourth time.  This time her levels have dropped to 14 and the doctor said she does not need to be retested.  I could not have been any happier.  We still hang out in front of a sunny window, we are not taking any chances.