Chloe is changing everyday it seems, so I’m trying to be good about taking a picture of her everyday! This one is back at Sutter. We took Chloe for her 5-day old bili check on Friday and, surprisingly, her bili level had jumped to about 17 (it was declining on day of discharge–Wednesday). We took her back for a blood draw on Sunday and it was up to 20.4. We got the call from the doctor at around 4pm that same day and she told us to check into Sutter immediately so we could start phototherapy without any further delays.
We learned more about bilirubin than the first time around. Phototherapy doesn’t destroy the bilirubin, it just modifies the molecular structure such that it can be excreted in urine as well as poop. Basically, this meant that Chloe still needed to eat (as well as be on the lights).
At first, there was talk of repeating Chloe’s hearing screen (at really high levels, hearing loss can occur), so I was anxious enough that I couldn’t sleep at all that night. Instead, I woke Chloe up every 90 minutes to nurse her, whether she was ready or not, so she would continue to pee and, hopefully, poop, too!! The doctor also wanted me to pump after every nursing so we could supplement Chloe with even more chow (well, I only managed to withstand 2 pumping sessions, but it was enough to get about 20ml, 10 of which we ended up feeding to Chloe via a syringe and tube).
So, back to the picture…it was taken the next day by one of the lactation specialists at Sutter. She happens to be a neighbor and she remembered me from Dylan’s and Cameron’s births (she’d see me strolling along in our ‘hood pretty regularly after both babies were born), so she came in to chat and then wanted to take a picture of us. I look like death warmed over, but at least we got a picture of Chloe at 7 days old!
Also, to everyone’s delight, Chloe’s bili level went back down to 14.1 overnight. By the next day (Tuesday), it was at 14.7, which means it has stabilized. Tomorrow, we do one last heel prick to check her level again, but I expect all will be well. Babies’ levels usually peak at 5 days and then steadily decline on their own. In the meantime, the girl is just chowin’ down and gaining lots. As of yesterday’s doc appointment, she was back to 7 lbs. and she’d gained 2 ozs. overnight (docs hope for .75-1oz of weight gain a day). She may well be back to birth weight today!
