NICU

I don't know if it's cause I'm tall or what, but all of our babies have been on the big side. Peyton was our smallest at 8lbs 7oz. Because of this, jaundice has always been a minor concern. I guess bigger babies have a harder time taking in enough fluid to flush out all the biliruben in their systems.

We've always had to watch it, but it's never really been an issue. But Jaden just had a little bit of a harder time than the girls have had. The day after we got home from the hospital we took him to the pediatrician to have his levels checked. They had gone from an 8 in the hospital to an 18 in less than 24 hours. When they get up to 25 is when it can cross the blood/brain barrier and cause damage.

We were given a phototherapy blanket to use at home and were told to bring him back the next morning. Unfortunately, his levels had gone up again, and were now at 20. The doctor called us with the bad news that he would need to go to the NICU to get under the lights. The one in the NICU would cover his whole body, whereas the blanket just covered his abdomen.

Just what every new mom needs, I was already hormonal, and now my baby was going to be in a hospital for two days and two nights. It was the worst news I could have heard at that time. No, it's not a really serious issue, and we're thankful for that, but no mom wants to be seperated from their newborn baby.



Luckily, he's a great sleeper. Seeing that he wasn't uncomfortable, and that he was still happy and content there made it much easier to leave him. I spent the next two days going back and forth to the hospital to feed him. Sometimes I would stay up there, and sometimes I would come home to be with the girls. Thankfully, we're not too far from the hospital so I was able to do that at least.

Our little boy under the lights. The more skin he had exposed to the light, the better. I guess this particular light helps the body break down biliruben. It works the same as sunlight, except it doesn't cause sunburn. I actually think he really liked it under there with his blinders on, and a nice warm light overhead.

they had told us that after they took him off the lights, they would keep him for 8-12 hours to observe him, so I was thinking we would get to bring him home sunday afternoon. Then the NICU pediatrician gave me the best news ever at 9am sunday morning...we could take him home without needing to be observed!

I am grateful to all the nurses there, I don't think I could do what they do at all. They reassured me that he was in good hands, and would be well taken care of when I wasn't there. While I know this wasn't even close to the worst thing that could go wrong with a newborn, I am beyond grateful that it's over and that he's finally here with us. Now, after a whole week of having him in our family, and not being able to just hang out at home for a single day, I'm really looking forward to relaxing in my pajamas and soaking him up this week!