bilirubin, and a superman blanket

my son seamus was born friday. now, after two days at home, his
pediatrician saw a trend of increased bilirubin in his system. (he went
from 10 to 16.8) so now we have the wallaby, a portable light system that
makes his blanket light up like ka-el in the original superman movie.

i'm scared. my milk came in, and i was feeding him every two to three
hours, even though he was getting sleepier, and had to be tortured with a
cold washcloth at the end. (not the greatest way to start a breastfeeding
relationship, huh?) they say if we keep the paddles of light on him at all
times, and nurse, that he should be out of the woods in three to five days.
my husband goes back to work monday. i hope it's all over by then.

just typing helps. you have all helped in the past with ian, and i had the
pleasure of looking at preternatural's blog (before she had to end it),
following her trek with her kid, who was the same age as ian.

he's so small, you know?


lynn

(17 year old dude, 13 year old cool girl, 5 year old adventure man, and
sweet one.)

Congratulations on your new son!. My ds (now nearly 15 months)
developed jaundice a day after he was born. He didn't need a lamp but
we did keep him in shaded daylight as much as we could. I also had to
'bully' him to stay awake to feed. As he was feeding every 1.45hrs day
and night it was hard - physically and emotionally exhausting, but
after 48 hours he fed *so* much better. I was told daylight and bf'ing
are the key to sorting out jaundice so you are doing all the right
things. IIRC it was a bit more than a week before he was totally clear,
but you could see day by day he was losing his 'tan' - and that visible
sign helps.

Godd luck with it, you are doing great!

Jeni

In article . net,
"lynn" wrote:

i'm scared. my milk came in, and i was feeding him every two to three
hours, even though he was getting sleepier, and had to be tortured with a
cold washcloth at the end. (not the greatest way to start a breastfeeding
relationship, huh?) they say if we keep the paddles of light on him at all
times, and nurse, that he should be out of the woods in three to five days.
my husband goes back to work monday. i hope it's all over by then.

Congratulations!

Yes -- the light paddles help break down the bilirubin, and liquid will help
him wash it out of his system. So feed him frequently. Frequent feeds will
increase your milk supply, too. If you offer him the breast whenever he
wakes/cries/etc, that will really help. Once he wakes up a bit, you will get
a feel for when he is hungry -- but as a rule, assume he's hungry unless you
have good reason to believe otherwise.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue

"Chookie" wrote:

Once he wakes up a bit, you will get
a feel for when he is hungry -- but as a rule, assume he's hungry unless
you
have good reason to believe otherwise.

oh, i hope so, and soon! today, his level went up, but the pediatrician
said that it's slowing down, so keep it up. but, i didn't know it was going
to be worse before it got better, so i tailspinned. doesn't help that i
have a bit of the baby blues. also, i started maternity leave the day of
the birth, so i still feel keyed up at evening time, when i would be working
at my parttime job. a lot of reasons that add up to this helpless, weary,
edgy feeling that i feel when it gets dark.

but, he'll be better soon. i hope i hope i hope in three days.

lynn