Zy's First Days

Zy's first few days were spent trying to get his bilirubin levels down. Too much biliruben in the blood causes jaundice, the yellow discoloration of the skin that is common for newborn babies.

He stayed one extra night in the hospital, after I was discharged (maybe one day we'll take a baby home when we leave the hospital?), and the next few with lights on him at home.

It was easy to leave him at the hospital after we left, knowing that we'd most likely be able to take him home the next day... much easier than not having a clue when that would be. Not to mention the fact of him not having any extra cords to get in the way. He was so cute and tiny.

Here he is the next day, ready to roll...

The day after he came home, his pediatrician checked his levels - and they had gone back up quite a bit from when he was released. He needed some home therapy, which didn't sound fun to me, but actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

The first type of light he had was called a "bili" blanket. It was a small pad filled with lights, which connected to a large hose-type cord with a power unit. It was loud and a bit obnoxious, since it wasn't possible to wrap him up fully, his little feet always sticking out. But he didn't seem to mind.

This light was also a hassle because we were to switch it from his back to his stomach every two hours - and because I was only feeding him every three, it made for some long nights. Add to it the fact that he hadn't latched on to breast feed yet, so I was pumping after feeding him... I was one tired mama.

Zy and I took a trip to the either the pediatrician or to the hospital each day to get his levels checked again and again... the poor kid had bruised feet from all the poking to get his blood drawn.

His levels were rising with the "blanket," so the next type of light was a "bili" bed. It was a large box with a bili light inside, and had a sort of jacket attached to it. He laid inside with his arms through the "jacket," and couldn't move much - not that newborns do, anyway. But that also meant no cuddling, with anyone. I was normally the one to hold him, since the only time he could be off the lights was to eat, but cuddling and feeding him are totally different - so not even I was able to get some good newborn snuggles in, really.

But, we were eager for him to be totally healthy, so it was easy to let him be.

After the first night of him on the bed, his levels were still rising - so we were told to keep the bili blanket on him as well, and that seemed to help. I was told by the pediatrician's office that we could take him off the bed - though his levels were still higher than they were at the hospital. I didn't feel great about it, so I followed my instinct and decided to leave him on the lights one more night. The next day, his levels were much lower - and his poop was the right color (very important when the body is trying to get rid of the biliruben), so he was soon lights-free!

After that, we were able to get all the snuggles we wanted in with our sweet little guy. He loves cuddling much more than Jack did, even from day one. Funny how different they already are!