Well, we thought that we should update everyone on what is going on with Emma. She was born on Tuesday the 13th and we were discharged from the hospital on Thursday, we were told that she had a slight case of Jaundice which is very common and we would have to have her bilirubin count done the next morning. We had an appointment with our pediatrician on Friday morning already, so we went to the hospital beforehand to get the lab work done.
When we got to the pediatrician's office they told us that her bilirubin levels had raised quite a bit since we had left the hospital so we had to admit her to Wake Med again to have phototherapy to try and lower the bilirubin count try to get rid of the jaundice. We also had to have an IV put in her to try to give her some extra fluids. We stayed in the hospital from Friday until Sunday when they told us that she was on a downward trend and we should be OK at home. After getting home on Sunday we had an appointment again to get her bilirubin count done on Monday. We were in for some more bad news... her levels had started to go up so we got an at home "biliblanket" to try to do some of the phototherapy at home. After a day of this her levels were the same so we were admitted to the hospital once again on Tuesday.
It is now Wednesday night and her levels are getting pretty decent compared to what we came in with, but since she rebounded after going home last time, they are going to try to be a little more cautious.
It has been pretty rough. She has to get her heel pricked to draw blood quite a few times a day and she has all of these little scabs on her feet that really break my heart. She has to be under the lights the majority of the day so we can't really hold her which is also really hard. Right now I am typing this one handed so she can hold onto my finger which seems to calm her down a bit.
We are hoping that tomorrow her levels will be at normal levels and not just on a "downward trend" and we will be able to be discharged. This has been really hard on our family and we are looking forward to getting our daughter home... for good.
(The picture shows what she was in for the majority of the first visit. She had to lay on a little light up pad, she was under a big set of blue LED lights and she had a spotlight on her as well. The white bandage on her arm is the IV. This time she is only one the blue pad and the blue overhead light.
3 comments:
I am praying hard that everything will be okay really soon. This breaks my heart. I have been checking the blog for updates every few hours and I was hoping I was going to hear something different. I am so happy the levels are going down. I can't wait to see her and give her a big kiss :)
Debby's a friend of mine so I've been popping in to this blog off and on. Emma Grace is absolutely beautiful!
I'm praying she'll soon be free of the "French Fry warmer" (as my husband nicknamed it after our daughter was born). Meanwhile, smooch her when you can--and give her one for me, too!
Emma is such a little sweetheart!
Jason and Alison, y'all are doing a wonderful job of taking care of your little girl.
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