Jaundice?

Well, after getting a busy signal from 9-10am at the doc's yesterday
morning, I *finally* got through. I talked to the receptionist, and told
her what was up, and said I was fairly concerned about her still being so
yellow. She asked some basic questions - yes, she's eating very well, yes,
she has plenty of wet and dirty diapers, yes, her dirty diapers are fairly
yellow and kinda seedy, yes, she's doing pretty good with sleeping...
The receptionist said that she was going to ask the ped and see what he
says, then she would call me right back. Phone rang around 12:30 or so that
afternoon, and she said there's nothing to worry about. My ped said that
around 6 weeks it will go away, and as long as she's eating and sleeping and
having many dirty/wet diapers, he's not concerned, regardless of any horror
stories I've heard or will hear!
I did ask, however, if I should be concerned if come 6 weeks (which is 1
week from today) she is still real yellow, and again, the doctor said not to
worry. We're back at the doc's office on the 18th for DD2's "6 week"
checkup, which will make her more like 8 weeks old, as that was the soonest
they could get both girls in at the same time.
So, I guess, for now, there's no concern and no worries. One thing I do
know is that I do trust my ped and what he says. I just love him, and so I
really am not worried!
Thanks, and I'm really hoping the jaundice does go away real soon!

Sue wrote:
wrote in message
How horrible for you Sue. I know a woman on another board who has just
been through a similar experience, although I think her baby wasn't
doing so well to start with. However the doctor thought different and
didn't act and the baby got really sick. He is recovering from an
operation now, but it is something they shouldn't have gone through.
Personnally I would get it checked out.

Yes, it was pretty horrible at the time. Now, she is a 14-year-old, sassy,
normal girl. )

That's good to hear

What kind of operation did the child go through do you
know? If the child had liver disease, the operations are really hard to not
do because it's not something that just gets better. However, it depends on
what is going on with your friend's child.

I don't know the full details I haven't been on that message board long
and have only caught the end of her story. I do know that it wasn't a
liver transplant but that they said the little boy has about a 30%
chance of *not* have a liver transplant later on, so it is obviously
something major. She posted pictures of the baby before and after the
operation and you can clearly see how poorly he looked before and how
well he looked just a couple of days after.

Hang on, found an old post, apparently he had biliary atresia.

'Biliary atresia is caused when the bile duct to the liver becomes
inflamed. This is normally due to damage caused around the time of
birth. It is not clear how or why this occurs.

The bile duct becomes blocked and means bile builds up in the liver and
begins to poison it.'

A similar thing happened to my cat, although somehow it was related to
the cancer tumour they found. Sadly she was too far gone to survive.

Anyway, I digress. They had a checkup yesterday and the operation
seems so far to be a success, which is good news.

Jeni

wrote in message
Hang on, found an old post, apparently he had biliary atresia.

Anyway, I digress. They had a checkup yesterday and the operation
seems so far to be a success, which is good news.

Yes, biliary atresia is what DD1 had. She had a Kasai procedure first, which
was the first operation. She did fairly well with that for a while and then
the liver transplant was necessary. I hope the woman and the family does
well. If you talk to her again and she would like to talk to someone who has
BTDT, give her my email address. )
--

Sue (mom to three girls)

"xkatx" wrote in message
news:1joah.15884$uj6.2524@edtnps89...
DD2 will be 5 weeks old on Tuesday... She's nursing like a champ - eats
like a horse (birth weight was 7lbs 3oz, at 8 days she was 7lbs 8oz, and
at 3 weeks she was 9lbs 2oz, and haven't weighed her in 2 weeks yet, so
not sure what her weight is now)
She has plenty of dirty and wet diapers. She has a very good latch and a
good, strong suck.
When we got home from the hospital, the home health nurse checked her out.
She was a day old when the nurse looked her over, and the nurse said she
was a bit jaundice, but said it was alright. At her 2 week checkup with
the ped, when she was 3 weeks old, the ped said she was jaundice, but
again, he wasn't concerned and said very little. Now she's almost 5 weeks
old, and she is STILL so yellow! I had noticed it right from the start.
DH said he didn't notice it, neither did any family. Everyone said I was
seeing things, but just the other day, DH said, out of nowhere, that yes,
she looks fairly yellow, and he said he could really notice it, and said
maybe it was because she's getting bigger - has a bit bigger and rounder
face.
I'm debating on calling the 24 hour RN phone line to see if this is
normal.
I've been kind of freaked ever since DS's parent/teacher interviews on
Thursday when one of the other moms I was talking to sort of freaked me
out about jaundice, saying that it can be so very serious and all that,
and it shouldn't be taken lightly. My cousin, also, had to spend
something like 2 days at the hospital when her daughter (she's 5 weeks
younger than DD1, so this was probably about 14 months ago) was jaundice.
Should I be concerned? Should I just call anyways? I'm kind of not
wanting to look like a crazy parent worrying over nothing, and none of my
other children had jaundice. I really don't even know what to look for,
what it is, why it is or anything. I just see that DD2's skin is very
yellowish, as are the whites of her eyes. Her eyes almost look like they
have a film over them... It's kind of hard to explain! Any ideas or
suggestions?


When my little one had a some jaundice my midwives suggested I take
acidophilus to help clear it out. Worked for me!

"xkatx" wrote in message

So, I guess, for now, there's no concern and no worries. One thing I do
know is that I do trust my ped and what he says. I just love him, and so
I really am not worried!
Thanks, and I'm really hoping the jaundice does go away real soon!

I'm glad you called your ped. Hunter was jaundice for at least 6 weeks and
he was fine. I want to say it was 8 weeks but I don't have my records
available right now to check.


--
Nikki, mama to
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
Brock 4/06
Ben 4/06

Having read all this, my main concern is that she was jaundiced from
day one, and hasn't gotten any better. Breastmilk jaundice does often
last several weeks, but it doesn't usually start until baby is 7-10
days old. Physiologic jaundice typically only lasts a week or so, and
starts when baby is 2-3 days old. Jaundice in a one day old baby (you
mentioned in your initial post that the nurse noticed it the first day)
CAN indicate a medical problem. And even if it's not a medical problem,
physiologic jaundice that lasts 6 weeks is not usual.

Personally, if she's still jaundiced at her 6 week check-up, I'd ask
the doc for some tests. If all is fine, great, but if a problem is
found, better to find it early.

Naomi


xkatx wrote:
Well, after getting a busy signal from 9-10am at the doc's yesterday
morning, I *finally* got through. I talked to the receptionist, and told
her what was up, and said I was fairly concerned about her still being so
yellow. She asked some basic questions - yes, she's eating very well, yes,
she has plenty of wet and dirty diapers, yes, her dirty diapers are fairly
yellow and kinda seedy, yes, she's doing pretty good with sleeping...
The receptionist said that she was going to ask the ped and see what he
says, then she would call me right back. Phone rang around 12:30 or so that
afternoon, and she said there's nothing to worry about. My ped said that
around 6 weeks it will go away, and as long as she's eating and sleeping and
having many dirty/wet diapers, he's not concerned, regardless of any horror
stories I've heard or will hear!
I did ask, however, if I should be concerned if come 6 weeks (which is 1
week from today) she is still real yellow, and again, the doctor said not to
worry. We're back at the doc's office on the 18th for DD2's "6 week"
checkup, which will make her more like 8 weeks old, as that was the soonest
they could get both girls in at the same time.
So, I guess, for now, there's no concern and no worries. One thing I do
know is that I do trust my ped and what he says. I just love him, and so I
really am not worried!
Thanks, and I'm really hoping the jaundice does go away real soon!

Sue wrote:
wrote in message
Hang on, found an old post, apparently he had biliary atresia.

Anyway, I digress. They had a checkup yesterday and the operation
seems so far to be a success, which is good news.

Yes, biliary atresia is what DD1 had. She had a Kasai procedure first, which
was the first operation. She did fairly well with that for a while and then
the liver transplant was necessary. I hope the woman and the family does
well. If you talk to her again and she would like to talk to someone who has
BTDT, give her my email address. )

Thanks Sue, that's very kind, I have let her know.

Jeni