Bringing Home Baby

Well, this last week has been a little bit of a major bummer. We went to the doctor on Monday when Gavin was 12 days old and we did his newborn screen and a bilirubin test because he was still pretty yellow. His level came back very high which gave us the opportunity to have a home health nurse come to our house and set up a bili light and come everyday and prick his heel to get a bili level until it was <10. The above picture was my attempt to get rid of the jaundice the best we could with a little sunbathing every morning...obviously that didn't work :(

Here is his little bili light. They used to be big boxes and the babies had to wear little covers over their eyes, but now it is a light that they lay on and you have to wrap them in the blanket to get full exposure. The worst part about this was that he had to be in there 24/7, the only time I could take him out was to feed him and to change his diaper...also on Monday I went to the weight clinic at Covenant for nursing moms (in conjunction with the breastfeeding support group) and he was 6lbs 13.5oz and the lactation consultant wanted me to supplement him with an ounce of pumped breastmilk after every feeding to help with the jaundice and to get his weight up. The home health nurse wanted us to supplement with formula because it is better for getting the bilirubin down...anyways, we did supplement a little, he got 3 total ounces of formula and probably 5 or 6 of breastmilk, but then we started having some nursing problems and we decided to cut out the bottles as long as he was still gaining and his numbers were getting better. He is now nursing like a champ again and luckily I was pumping a lot so my supply is fine and on Friday morning he was 7lbs, 1.5oz, just 1.5oz off his birth weight! I am keeping my fingers crossed that we get a good weight report at the weight clinic on Monday. Friday was the big day that his bili level was 9.6, so after 5 days in the light with me not being able to hold him, he was released from his light prison and we are much happier...and then we got a bath...

Gavin's umbilical stump fell off at 8 days old, which is pretty early compared to a lot of babies, but still within normal limits. We had to wait for the bath because of the lights, so his first actual in the tub bath was last night and he *loved* it...and by loved it, I mean he hated it. It was funny, I think he will like it more later, but for now...not so much.

This was his "oh gosh, I can't believe you are seriously making me do this" pose.

We are doing well, just so happy to be free of the lights and doing ok. He is still a very good baby even though everyone said he was just lethargic from the jaundice. He is alert more and more everyday and as Daddy puts it, as long as he is moving or eating he is fine. He is still quite the night owl, but I think most 2 week olds are.