Little Lila has been a little jaundice since leaving the hospital. Every baby on both sides of our family has been and so we know it isn't really a huge worry. Friday we went in to Dr. Ally's ofice and got her bilirubin level checked. She was at a 17. That is right on the border of getting the photo therapy. We were sent home and told to check back the next day. Now, the next day was Saturday and apparently in the hospital world that means everything is shut down.
I woke up for her 6:00 feeding and had no idea that I would be awake until midnight dealing with this. We went to the Dr.'s office and saw the on call doc. She said we had to get another heel prick done. (that is not fun to watch when your baby is 6 days old). They sent us to the lab which is across the street in the main hospital. I realize that this is very typical and probably most mom's have to deal with this, but I feel the need to vent. What in the world are they thinking? I have this newborn baby, who I can't even lift in her carrier because it is too heavy and might tear the stitches in my body. My milk has just come in and I feel like I might fall forward because of the two huge rocks that are now attached to my chest. On top of all that, I am on no sleep and pain meds (a GREAT combo for making important decisions)!!!
All that said thank the Lord my mom and Josh are here with me. I can't imagine doing all that by myself.
So, we walked all the way over to the lab to find it closed. We called the Dr. and were sent to a second location that was also closed. I am trying to find a place to sit and feed this baby who did awesome during all of this. About 2 hours later we finally get to a lab across town that is open. We got there and got her tested. Unfortunately they closed 10 min after we got there. The dr.'s office also closed at noon. We were on the phone all afternoon trying to find out what the reading said thinking if the level is high shouldn't we be doing something about it?
My sweet friend Jill came over to bring us dinner. While we were visiting the Dr. called and said the level was up and we needed to go to the hospital for photo therapy. I wasn't as concerned about the treatment as I was about taking a newborn to the emergency room. When we got there, there were several feverish, hacking, sickly children. I know several people who had taken their babies in for something simple and caught something worse while there.
Thankfully we were taken to a private room where she got all sorts of tests done. (3rd heel prick in 2 days) After 4 hours of waiting my impatient husband who works in this same hospital used his knowledge about the computer system to look up her results himself. She had dropped since that morning! Yay! About 11:00 the ER doc came and told us that since she was now 6 days old she need to be at a 21 to be admitted. We were back to a 17. Needless to say we were so thankful and relieved to be going home, but very frustrated to have sat around all night to have nothing done. After an entire day of trying to help this poor yellow baby, the only one who actually did anything to help her was us! We fed her and put her in the sunshine. Now, couldn't that have been done at home??? What a wasted day.
I woke up for her 6:00 feeding and had no idea that I would be awake until midnight dealing with this. We went to the Dr.'s office and saw the on call doc. She said we had to get another heel prick done. (that is not fun to watch when your baby is 6 days old). They sent us to the lab which is across the street in the main hospital. I realize that this is very typical and probably most mom's have to deal with this, but I feel the need to vent. What in the world are they thinking? I have this newborn baby, who I can't even lift in her carrier because it is too heavy and might tear the stitches in my body. My milk has just come in and I feel like I might fall forward because of the two huge rocks that are now attached to my chest. On top of all that, I am on no sleep and pain meds (a GREAT combo for making important decisions)!!!
All that said thank the Lord my mom and Josh are here with me. I can't imagine doing all that by myself.
So, we walked all the way over to the lab to find it closed. We called the Dr. and were sent to a second location that was also closed. I am trying to find a place to sit and feed this baby who did awesome during all of this. About 2 hours later we finally get to a lab across town that is open. We got there and got her tested. Unfortunately they closed 10 min after we got there. The dr.'s office also closed at noon. We were on the phone all afternoon trying to find out what the reading said thinking if the level is high shouldn't we be doing something about it?
My sweet friend Jill came over to bring us dinner. While we were visiting the Dr. called and said the level was up and we needed to go to the hospital for photo therapy. I wasn't as concerned about the treatment as I was about taking a newborn to the emergency room. When we got there, there were several feverish, hacking, sickly children. I know several people who had taken their babies in for something simple and caught something worse while there.
Thankfully we were taken to a private room where she got all sorts of tests done. (3rd heel prick in 2 days) After 4 hours of waiting my impatient husband who works in this same hospital used his knowledge about the computer system to look up her results himself. She had dropped since that morning! Yay! About 11:00 the ER doc came and told us that since she was now 6 days old she need to be at a 21 to be admitted. We were back to a 17. Needless to say we were so thankful and relieved to be going home, but very frustrated to have sat around all night to have nothing done. After an entire day of trying to help this poor yellow baby, the only one who actually did anything to help her was us! We fed her and put her in the sunshine. Now, couldn't that have been done at home??? What a wasted day.
Here is our yellow baby.
Sunbathing beauty.
A delirious Daddy and Honey at the ER.
8 comments:
Bless your heart. I know how miserable you feel! You have every right to vent. I am SO glad that her levels are down and since this seems to run in the family, I know you know what to do! I hope she is all better in the next couple of days!
I've thoroughly enjoyed reading the blogs and look forward to watching your little girl grow up.
I hate day six!! :( Great post, I love your description of how your feeling, takes me right back, it gets SOOOO much better. Hope tomorrow's visit is short and they' tell you not to come back. Love you!
I've SO had days like that and I hate to tell you...but there will be more. However, all the little smiles and giggles will make it totally worth it. Sounds like Lila is in great hands.
Sidenote: Kyle was in and out of the hospital a couple times last year, and yes, they do shut down on the weekends, which makes NO sense! Sick people need care EVERY DAY!!! You have every right to vent.
Bless your heart!! My heart goes out to you! Aren't you glad to have your mom there with you?? I hope the next few days are quiet ones and that you can enjoy some time away from hospitals and heel pricks to enjoy that precious baby!! By the way, Lila looks ADORABLE in red!!
Hang in there! Lila is so lucky to have such wonderful, caring parents.
Welcome to being a mommy #1 rule.. You are now a mommy and that gives you the right to vent #2 rule... Doctors are NOT always right (not talking about you Josh) #3 rule... Follow your instincts and I promise you will be right 99 % of the time. I hope you can get some sleep and I promise those "rocks" will go down. We will be praying for that sweet baby. Tanner asked me today when he gets to meet his new cousin? See ya soon!
Thank the Lord for Honey, right?!? Kacey I started feeling a little quiesy ready this b/c I can so relate to everything that happened to you (minus busy Houston public hospitals...YUCK!) You are doing so great and hopefully by the time you read this you will have gotten some much needed rest!!! I love you so much and I really can't wait to see you soon-:)
Kacey, I am so sorry that you had such a rough weekend! I hope that things are looking up and that YOU are feeling good too! I love your blog. You inspired me to start my own in preparation for Emerson's arrival. Hang in there!
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