So, Michael is yellow. Its official, he has jaundice. I always noticed a little bit of a yellow color to his skin, but I never really thought it was anything to worry about. Then I had a few signs that he was too yellow:
Sign #1: I took him out and other people started asking, "Does he look yellow to you?"
Sign #2: The whites of his eyes started looking a little yellow.
Sign #3: These pictures where his coloring is much different than Mckaley's:

So, I hate being one of those moms that overreacts and takes their kid into the doctor for every little thing, but I made the HUGE mistake of searching the internet about bilirubin levels. Turns out, he shouldn't be yellow at 5 weeks of age and there is the slight problem that if levels stay too high it could lead to mental retardation and cerebral palsy, just to name a few, slightly scary side effects. Yikes. After reading the articles, I made the apt and the doc confirmed that yes, he has jaundice. I had two options and that point.
Option 1- take him to the hospital and stick him with a bunch of needles to see how high the bilirubin levels are and why its not breaking down effectively
Option 2- I could stop breast feeding for 2-3 days and put him on formula to see if it is breast milk jaundice. Whatever the heck that is. Doctors apparently don't even know why breast milk jaundice occurs, but it does.
I chose Option 2 for obvious reasons. Although its better than option 1 I've got to tell you this schedule of: wake up in the middle of the night, make a bottle, warm a bottle, feed Michael (who hates the bottle and formula), try to get Michael to fall back asleep, pump to keep my milk supply up, freeze the milk and then go back to bed is HELL. It takes me over an hour to do all of this and I'm doing it three times a night!!! So, I'm now getting about 3-4 hours of sleep at the most. AHHHH- the things we do for our kiddos. Oh well it will be over soon and hopefully Mckaley and I won't be singing Yellow Fellow around the house much longer.
5 comments:
ahhhhh.... i know your pain! this happened w/ both of my boys and i had to take them both off breastmilk too. but i caved!! they slept sooooo much better on formula and the whole pumping routine while we were waiting it out got so old that i eventually gave in and stopped breastfeeding. i'm proud of you for sticking it out!! i'm sure he'll be just fine in a few days.
Meg,
I'm thinking of you every night-I know that doesn't help you get any more sleep- but I hope you can get back into your old routine soon.
oh sweetie...I am sooo sorry! Is it better? Sleep is so precious for a mom! I am trying not to remember those days of feeding, pumping, freezing and doing it over again...
I am sorry to hear this :(
I love seeing the pictures though! I wish I was there to help you. I am really good a giving bottles! I love you guys!
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