Many thanks to everyone for your congratulations and well-wishes! We love you!
Since I'm still a couple days behind on blogging, I wanted to catch y'all up to speed with what's going on in real time here at our house. Baby Andrew has a few (relatively minor) health issues that we're managing.
First, the jaundice.
Evyn had jaundice (up to half of newborns do) which resolved itself within a week without medical intervention.
Andrew's was a bit worse, making him lethargic, which means he's sleeping more and eating less - which exacerbates the condition. We've had him on a biliblanket since Saturday (not fun!) but unfortunately his bilirubin levels have increased, from 11 on Saturday, to 18 today. So we need to keep him on the biliblanket, as close to 24 hours a day as possible. We also have to follow up each nursing session with a finger-feeding of formula, to increase his bowel movements & get rid of the bilirubin faster.
He'll also be getting blood drawn every 24 hours until his levels come down. There is no way to know exactly why he is jaundiced, but Pitocin and rough labor are both tied to increased incidence of jaundice.
Second, his skull. When he was born, his fontanel was already closed. His pediatrician is pretty confident that his skull plates are simply overlapped (possibly from being squeezed in the birth canal for a prolonged period) and not fused. We'll know over the course of the next week or two, by monitoring his head growth. Overlapped plates are no big deal.... in the event they are fused, surgery would be required.
Third, his circumcision. I would have preferred he hadn't been circumcised, and our original plan was to wait a few weeks before making a firm decision, but ultimately Scott and I chose to have the procedure done on Saturday before we left the hospital.
It's another wait-and-see scenario, but the pediatrician believes the Plastibell was positioned incorrectly when the circumcision was performed. Hopefully when it falls off (in the next week) we'll see that no intervention is necessary - but it's possible.
All in all, Andrew is doing well... Mommy and Daddy are just a bit emotional these days.
I'll keep you updated.
2 comments:
I never had any issues with severe jaundice, but I hope Andrew's bilirubin levels lower sooner rather than later.
I also hope his plates aren't fused, but just overlapped. I believe the same thing happened to my BIL (C's younger brother).
As far as the circ goes, did your OB do it? My youngest nephew had an OB do the circ and it's awful! We've always had our pedi do it when he comes in on rounds and never have had an issue. I hope that there isn't any further intervention needed for Andrew's sake. Sounds like he's been through enough already - Same with Mom & Dad!
Thanks for the birth story & the update. Rest and take care of yourself!!!! These first few weeks are so hard.
I can understand why you are emotional. It is so hard to see them in that biliblanket and not really get to pick em up much. Aidan had it quite badly and stayed in the hospital under the lights. I just had to sit there while he cried sometimes b/c I had to let him stay under the lights. Its awful.
Nole had an issue before his circumcision and that can be a bit scary as well. To have those things and the fontanels after the trouble you guys had to get him here makes it even more emotional (plus, thanks so much postpartum hormones for adding to it). The good news is that the pediatrician isn't too concerned and you have a bunch of cheerleaders in the corner for him. Hugs to you.
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