Well, that took a lot longer that I thought it would, and was a lot more stressful.

Everything for Baby Will checks out OK except his bilirubin count, which requires monitoring due to a blood-type conflict between he and Pam. His count has gone from 2 to 7 to 9 to 11 when he was discharged yesterday.  When they did a skin screening today, it gave a reading of 16.7, which is a huge jump and alarmingly high - levels over 20 can indicate a risk that Pam’s antibodies in Will’s blood may begin attacking his brain. The treatment for excessive bilirubin / neonatal jaundice is light therapy, in which the infant is placed under or wrapped in colored lights which will help his body break down the bilirubin and pass it via stools and urine. To get such treatments at Carle means being re-admitted to the hospital for a night or two.

So the Doctor ordered a blood test to get a more accurate count than they could get with a skin screening. They pricked his heel and he screamed for five minutes while they collected little blood droplets. After waiting around for 90 (very stressful) minutes for results, the blood test came back with a bilirubin count of 14.2, which is low enough that he won’t need to be admitted to the hospital today. Whew! We have another blood test and doctor appointment at 9 and 10:30 AM tomorrow for the same screenings, so we need to keep an eye on it. In the meantime, we can give him brief exposures to indirect sunlight and extra feedings to help him pass more bilirubin.

In addition, Mom’s not feeling as good today - she’s got some aches in some new places, and so she needs to relax and take it easy. I’m glad we have Grandma Lois around to help out with the suddenly massive amounts of laundry and dishes. I probably won’t go back to work until Wednesday or Thursday, but I’m playing that by ear.

So today will consist of the four of us hanging out in a brightly lit living room, watching the Bears get killed and trying not to worry. In the meantime, we’ll keep taking and posting more pictures. The best thing about bilirubin and jaundice, after all, is that Will looks like he’s got a great tan, and so we might as well take advantage of it!

Everybody feel free to give Pam a call today to keep her entertained and on the couch.

Written by Gordy |