When we were discharged from the hospital after Charlie was born, his bilirubin levels were 16.6, which was on the high side. We were told to see our pediatrician within 2 days for a retest, at which time we found out his levels had gone up to 17.9. We had to admit Charlie to the hospital that day for photo therapy.
Jaundice is caused by an excess of bilirubin in a baby’s blood, and peaks between 3-7 days post birth. Charlie definitely started looking very yellow (even though he is Asian) once we brought him home. I knew that jaundice was very common, but I had no idea that it occurs in over 70% of newborns, and East Asian babies are particularly susceptible. Extremely high levels of jaundice (25+) can cause deafness, cerebral palsy and brain damage! But doctors are so proactive about testing for jaundice now, babies usually receive treatment before their bilirubin numbers get nowhere near that high. Most of the time jaundice goes away on its own with frequent nursing and a little sun exposure, but if the levels get high enough, photo therapy + formula supplementation is often recommended as frequent pooping/peeing helps flush excess bilirubin out.
It was heartbreaking to watch the doctor try and fail twice to put an iv into Charlie’s little hands while they bled.
He had to lie naked except for a diaper and an eye mask under photo therapy lights for 24 hours. I couldn’t sleep a wink because the mask kept wiggling around so we had to keep adjusting it.
Overall it didn’t faze Charlie too much. He pretty much just slept the entire time.
When we were discharged, Charlie’s bilirubin levels came down to 12, after a high of 18. The follow-up treatment was to expose him naked to 15 minutes of sunlight a day to keep the jaundice at bay. Certain levels of bilirubin are dangerous at certain days of a newborn’s life, but now that Charlie had undergone photo therapy and was a bit older, there was nothing to worry about anymore. Still it was a lot to go through as a first time mom, so I hope we’re not going to have to go through this again with baby bee #2!
Did your baby get treatment for jaundice?
Jaundice part 1 of 4
1. Jaundice by Mrs. Bee2. Breastfeeding: Rocky Beginnings, Part 2 by Mrs. Yoyo
3. Unsolicited Breastfeeding Advice for New Moms by breastfeeding
4. My Breastfeeding Journey by Mrs. Chocolate
apricot / 321 posts
Max had jaundice, though he never had to go under the lights. We just had to keep him in sunlight. The pediatrician at the hospital suggested we supplement with formula but we just did pumped milk instead. The worst part was having to bring him back into the lab multiple times to get blood taken for testing. Even though I knew lots of Asian babies who had jaundice, it was still really scary and stressful to have to deal with in those first few days.
coffee bean / 30 posts
Just looking at these pictures make me want to cry because they bring back such bad memories. B’s bili level was at 21 and reached a high of 23! When he was discharged, we were told that it could take up to 3 months until the bili levels were completely down/normal. Scary!
persimmon / 1255 posts
Aly had jaundice and underwent UV photolight therapy as well. She was placed in a light unit with a bili-blanket that she kept kicking off cause I’m sure it wasn’t all that comfortable. We had a different style of mask but it also didn’t stay/fit well on her face so we kept having to adjust it. So frustrating.
Because her weight dropped more than the normal 10% after birth, it took an additional 2 weeks of visits (after discharge) before she gained back enough weight and was declared out of the danger zone. It was our first “welcome to parenthood and the lifetime of worry” episode.
olive / 54 posts
N had jaudice. His was on the high side (23). It was so sad seeing him in the little incubator. He wanted to rip off his little glasses because he didn’t want anything on his face. Hopefully, since you’re having a little girl… you won’t have to experience this again (I heard that Asian boys in particular get it more).
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
wow. i can’t believe they made you guys take him to the hospital for treatment.. micah’s levels spiked to 18ish when we brought her home and our pediatrician set us up with company that rented us a portable phototherapy machine for a copay of about 25 bucks a day.
i supplemented with formula to have her pee and poop a lot and had her sleep on the machine for 2 days.
it was pretty annoying having to go to see the pediatrician 3 days in a row and having them prick her heel, but was a relief when her levels dropped.
if your baby girl has jaundice too, maybe you can look into renting a machine?