Jaundice

Our yellow child

Mac had his first Doctor’s appointment on Friday, August 13. One look at our yellowed boy and Dr. Bentley sent him to the lab to check his Bilirubin level. He was at a 19.8 which is quite high, qualifying him for in home double therapy, with the Phototherapy lights on top and the Biliblanket beneath. Pretty soon we had our little Spiderman under the lights and emotional parents crying on the couch. We felt so bad for him under there, because first, he loves to be held and we could only hold him during feedings and diaper changes. Second, he loves to be swaddled and he couldn’t be swaddled. And third, frankly, we just wanted to be holding, hugging, and kissing him! Turns out he didn’t mind it under there at all! I think it was far worse for us than for him! Les and I took turns around the clock watching him for 2 long days and nights making sure he did not expose his eyes to the lights. One thing is for sure...his eyes weren't exposed but ours definitely were! Talk about burning and bloodshot! Plus we had to take him to the hospital 4 days in a row for blood work to check his levels. By Saturday he was down to a level 13, Sunday a 9, Monday back up to a 12, and Thursday a 13. Now we are just waiting for his body to take over and get rid of the Bilirubin on its own. All this was definitely worth it to getting him healthy again.

Working on a nice tan
Spiderman!

I love his legs in this pic

We knew the phototherapy was working when he was still yellow where the eye patches and hat were and the rest of his face wasn't