***UPDATE*** Feeling helpless...re:jaundice

[speckledfrog]

Great update! You're doing an awesome job.

[snickers]

M had jaundice for 3 weeks after birth. Sitting her in the sunlight helped her immensely. She peed and pooped soooo much and still had it for that long.

[Stingyshark]

Dec 28, 2013 21:50:45 GMT -5 snickers said:

M had jaundice for 3 weeks after birth. Sitting her in the sunlight helped her immensely. She peed and pooped soooo much and still had it for that long.

I know the sunlight thing BUT IF CIURSE it's been cloudy for the last three days. Non stop clouds. Rawr.

[snickers]

Dec 28, 2013 22:04:45 GMT -5 Stingyshark said:

Dec 28, 2013 21:50:45 GMT -5 snickers said:

M had jaundice for 3 weeks after birth. Sitting her in the sunlight helped her immensely. She peed and pooped soooo much and still had it for that long.

I know the sunlight thing BUT IF CIURSE it's been cloudy for the last three days. Non stop clouds. Rawr.

[Stingyshark]

Dec 28, 2013 21:25:19 GMT -5 osulori said:

Dec 28, 2013 17:19:43 GMT -5 namasteak said:

Thanks for the info on supplementing, I did not know that formula could help with bilirubin levels. 

From what I remember of the explanation my nurse gave me after AJ was born, the baby peeing/pooping helps flush out excess bilirubin so when bili levels are elevated the first thing the docs look to is how many wet/dirty diapers the baby had since they were born.  If they feel like that number isn't high enough they might suggest supplementing with formula, at least temporarily until mom's milk comes in, to get baby peeing and pooping more and thus flushing out the excess bilirubin.  I could have part of that mixed up though, since it was explained to me in the hospital after i asked why we were tracking wet/dirty diapers so closely anyway...and that whole time is pretty hazy.  especially the post birth part


Stingy, I'm so glad her levels have continued to drop and things are going well with pumping and bottle feeding (and getting miss Paisley to latch after).  Hang in there, kiddo!

That was the explanation we were given re: pooping/peeing.. She wanted me to supplement bc she was worried I was making enough BM to produce enough poopy/pee diapers. 

I've read that newborns should eat 8-12x/day.. She was definitely not eating that much. She is eating like a champ now, lots of poop & pee. DH is hilarious when she poops.. He's like, legit, excited about it. It's adorable! 

[sookie]

Dec 28, 2013 15:40:34 GMT -5 Stingyshark said:

Dec 28, 2013 15:32:06 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

We nursed around the clock with DD1 and her bilirubin still went high. (I had the opposite problem from you - instead of being under informed, I think DH was a little over informed as a Dr. He would start flipping out about how I was going to cause brain damage if I didn't nurse right away! Don't pee! Nurse now!) The hospitalization and UV light guidelines are set conservatively to protect your kid. If you are close but not there, it will be okay. If you can, nurse a session every now and then too. She is more efficient than a pump at getting / keeping your supply up. Or breast first like merida said,

((hugs))

We have done a mix of bottle/breast today. She's a lot more alert and eating 2oz from the bottle easily.

How do you measure how much she's getting from the breast?

You can do a weighted feed at the hospital or pediatrician's office. Your hospital might have an LC on staff, and if so check with them and you might be able to use their office while nursing and then do the weight check. That's how we did it because even though her weight was great, I wanted to know how much she was getting for my piece of mind. You can also buy a baby scale for pretty inexpensive if you wanted to, but since it's not a weight issue I don't know that its practical unless it gives you peace of mind.

[MrsAggie]

I can't believe your baby wasn't admitted with a level of 17. That's crazy to me. Even though .1 isn't a huge amount to come down, it usually means the jaundice levels (bilirubin) is on the downward slope. Jaundice levels peak by day 4. You're most likely in the clear. I'm a big advocate of breastfeeding but all breastfeeding resources say exclusively breastfeed UNLESS medically indicated. Jaundice is a medical reason to supplement because jaundice levels that are too high can require a blood transfusion and can cause permanent brain damage. I'm not telling you this to scare you, I'm telling you this because many moms will absolutely refuse to supplement, even if their child is starving to death. As PP have said, peeing and pooping is the key way to get rid of jaundice levels without phototherapy.

PM me if you have any questions. I work in the nursery and NICU.

ETA Also, it's the UV light that brings bilirubin levels down. Cloudy days usually have higher levels of UV so you can still strip baby down to his diaper and put him in front of a window two times a day for 20 minutes.

[Stingyshark]

Dec 29, 2013 4:13:00 GMT -5 MrsAggie said:

I can't believe your baby wasn't admitted with a level of 17. That's crazy to me. Even though .1 isn't a huge amount to come down, it usually means the jaundice levels (bilirubin) is on the downward slope. Jaundice levels peak by day 4. You're most likely in the clear. I'm a big advocate of breastfeeding but all breastfeeding resources say exclusively breastfeed UNLESS medically indicated. Jaundice is a medical reason to supplement because jaundice levels that are too high can require a blood transfusion and can cause permanent brain damage. I'm not telling you this to scare you, I'm telling you this because many moms will absolutely refuse to supplement, even if their child is starving to death. As PP have said, peeing and pooping is the key way to get rid of jaundice levels without phototherapy.

PM me if you have any questions. I work in the nursery and NICU.

ETA Also, it's the UV light that brings bilirubin levels down. Cloudy days usually have higher levels of UV so you can still strip baby down to his diaper and put him in front of a window two times a day for 20 minutes.

Her level on Saturday mornin was 15.1. She's been peeing & pooping up a storm.

The pedi said the guidelines for admit were 20..

Is there something in formula that's going to bring her levels down faster? I was under the impression the only reason she wanted me to supplement bc she thought I wasn't producing enough BM to keep up with the 2oz every 2-3hrs recommendation for feeding.

We did feed formula Thursday night - Friday morning. I was able to pump enough to store and then enough through out the day for her to eat 12x at 2oz each for all of Saturday.

We fed her formula at her last feeding bc I didn't have enough milk.

I'm definity not so crazy as to starve my kid just so she can have BM.

I did ask the pedi Saturday afternoon if just BM was ok as long as she was getting ateast 2oz every 2-3hrs. She said it was okay. I'm pumping and bottle feeding to ensure she is getting enough.

[MrsAggie]

Dec 29, 2013 4:52:20 GMT -5 Stingyshark said:

Dec 29, 2013 4:13:00 GMT -5 MrsAggie said:

I can't believe your baby wasn't admitted with a level of 17. That's crazy to me. Even though .1 isn't a huge amount to come down, it usually means the jaundice levels (bilirubin) is on the downward slope. Jaundice levels peak by day 4. You're most likely in the clear. I'm a big advocate of breastfeeding but all breastfeeding resources say exclusively breastfeed UNLESS medically indicated. Jaundice is a medical reason to supplement because jaundice levels that are too high can require a blood transfusion and can cause permanent brain damage. I'm not telling you this to scare you, I'm telling you this because many moms will absolutely refuse to supplement, even if their child is starving to death. As PP have said, peeing and pooping is the key way to get rid of jaundice levels without phototherapy.

PM me if you have any questions. I work in the nursery and NICU.

ETA Also, it's the UV light that brings bilirubin levels down. Cloudy days usually have higher levels of UV so you can still strip baby down to his diaper and put him in front of a window two times a day for 20 minutes.

Her level on Saturday mornin was 15.1. She's been peeing & pooping up a storm.

The pedi said the guidelines for admit were 20..

Is there something in formula that's going to bring her levels down faster? I was under the impression the only reason she wanted me to supplement bc she thought I wasn't producing enough BM to keep up with the 2oz every 2-3hrs recommendation for feeding.

We did feed formula Thursday night - Friday morning. I was able to pump enough to store and then enough through out the day for her to eat 12x at 2oz each for all of Saturday.

We fed her formula at her last feeding bc I didn't have enough milk.

I'm definity not so crazy as to starve my kid just so she can have BM.

I did ask the pedi Saturday afternoon if just BM was ok as long as she was getting ateast 2oz every 2-3hrs. She said it was okay. I'm pumping and bottle feeding to ensure she is getting enough.

As long as you're producing enough, yes, it's ok. Since jaundice peaks so early, most moms' milk isn't in yet which is why supplementing is important. As much fluids as possible is key to keep her peeing and pooping. If you're producing enough for 2 oz feedings, you're definitely in the clear!

The starving reference is more related to this area. We have a high instance of tongue-tied babies for some reason.

[Deleted]

Glad you have a positive update, stingy.

[BaliHai]

Sorry I missed your OP, but I'm happy to read your update! Jaundice is so nerve-wracking (our little lady left the hospital at 19 point something, and of course we had the same issue with getting her home and having virtually no sunny days), and especially so on top of the pp hormone crash. Hugs and I hope she continues getting better and better.

[Stingyshark]

Dec 29, 2013 7:44:57 GMT -5 BaliHai said:

Sorry I missed your OP, but I'm happy to read your update! Jaundice is so nerve-wracking (our little lady left the hospital at 19 point something, and of course we had the same issue with getting her home and having virtually no sunny days), and especially so on top of the pp hormone crash. Hugs and I hope she continues getting better and better.

How is your baby girl doing?

[BaliHai]

Dec 29, 2013 9:22:19 GMT -5 Stingyshark said:

Dec 29, 2013 7:44:57 GMT -5 BaliHai said:

Sorry I missed your OP, but I'm happy to read your update! Jaundice is so nerve-wracking (our little lady left the hospital at 19 point something, and of course we had the same issue with getting her home and having virtually no sunny days), and especially so on top of the pp hormone crash. Hugs and I hope she continues getting better and better.

How is your baby girl doing?

She's doing pretty well, thanks for asking! She's currently having to take baby Zantac for her reflux, and her formula is giving her gas issues, but the ped doesn't feel it's to the point where we need to switch her, so we're just giving her gas drops when she really needs them. Otherwise she's great, she's so sweet and she's chunking up nicely, though we think it's just all going to her cheeks, haha! She was 9lbs 5oz at her appointment on Thursday, and her one month appointment is on 1/6, which I can't even believe is almost here already.

[earlgreyhot]

Just wanted to say hang in there. I had a similar episode when DS was tiny,and remember that feeling of failure so vividly. We supp'd a but and I was a pumping, nursing machine for weeks. It pressed and I went on to exclusively nurse after that.