Any moms babies born with jaundice or previous experience? ?

[Chatt1215]

My baby is a week old  & there was some concerns that she may be jaundice, blood work came back fine before we left hosptial.  I noticed this past sunday that her skin and eyes had started to turn yellow. We took her to children's hospital and they draw up het bilirubin levels which came back at a level of 16.8. They don't admit the baby that's over 72 hours old unless there levels are over 20.( she was 5days old this day.) Her first appt was the next day and to make a long story short.  Her doctor sent us home to do the light therapy at home, b/c I'm breast feeding which he said will make her jaundice longer ge wants me to supplment 1oz of breast milk per feeding with formula. This will be expected ay 3 with the bili-light therapy,  and when I tell you my baby fights me with this whole bottle bussiness. Even with herdaddy she fights the bottle. I find myself just given in so we can sleep. We go back thursday to have her levels rechecked. The doctor wants them down to 10. Has anyone went through this at home tx and it worked. I would hate to have to be admitted if this doesn't work. I guess I just fear I'm doing it all wrong. Sorry its long.

[knufrio]

Jaundice is very common in newborns it takes longer for breastfed babies to get over it for two reasons, one you don't know exactly how much they are getting, and two there isn't that much waste from breastmilk. The only way to pass the bilirubin is through the digestive system which is why they say feed feed feed! Sunlight and the bili blanket will help however I wouldn't add any vitamin supplements that aren't designed specifically for babies as some vitamins can be overdosed easily.

[Chatt1215]

Sasa28 Thanks for the info. I will look into that.

[Chatt1215]

Thanks  kgp3013. The nurses aid at the doctors office didn't explain I dhould take her ones off while on the light. Ill do that. We go get levels checked tomorrow. Thanks everyone. I didn't know jaundice was so common.

[SaSa28]

ive been there... my youngest had the worse case of all my children.  don't worry about trying to force formula, breast milk is best. try this; get gell capcils of vitamin E and D and omega 3. poke one capcil each with a sanitary damper pin and squeeze the liquids into a medicin bottle (the kind you give Tylenol or grape water from). express your milk into the bottle.  give bottle good shake. tada! jaundice shake! feed this to your baby once to twice daily. the jaundice will clear up in no time flat. you could also try squeezing it right into baby's mouth thoughthey might complain about the taste.

in my experiance,  it worked on all of my kids with in days. with my eldest sister's first baby, who was hospitalized by the jaundice, she was better after 3 weeks. my sister found this info after being in the hospital with her baby under the lights for 2 weeks. the third week she gave  the vitamins to her baby things turned around quickly for them. they stayed at the hospital a few days after the jaundice, just to do some more test.

[natjayne]

Your welcome. Its good to cry sometimes. Dont beat yourself up. Also i noticed my two slept alot. Even passed their feeding time so I use to wake them up and ensure they were fed. I use to strip them off to their nappy or something to stir them. Best of luck. It will soon pass I'm sure xx

[Lollilani]

You can also tie a clove of garlic to the hand or something. But it must touch the baby skin. Then it extracts all that causing jaundice. Good luck

[kgp2013]

My daughters levels were 19 something two days after she was born. We used the light, at home, and little by little they came down. Just put the baby in a diaper only and continously lay them on the light. Even when we fed our daughter i would lay the light on top of her. I was a ftm and it scared me to death too. Baby will be fine soon as long as you use the light and sunshine.  :)

[Chatt1215]

Thanks ladies. I've been extra emotional these last few days, and I normally don't worry like this. Can't wait for all these cry baby moments to pass. I have been able to take her outside in her swing, and she really enjoyed it. Its rained yesterday. Hopefully we can get out today. Thanks again.

[natjayne]

Dont be sorry. You have concerns which is only natural. Both my son and daughter were jaundice. They took blood from both as they were concerned but their levels were not dangerous enough to keep them in for further treatment. They told me to use natural sunlight for periods at a time. They did say that due to me breastfeeding it may take a little longer to clear up. I took my son back to the doctors for reassurance because his eyes I thought were getting worse but after an examination they said he was fine and to continue feeding regular and placing his mose basket in the sunlight. It cleared up for both my children. X

[Prego87]

I had a similar experience. My son was born December 2007, we left the hospital with his levels slightly elevated. They told me to keep him near windows to let natural light hit him. Being it was December there wasn't any. So he had also did the bili-light treatment for almost 3 weeks till he got to a normal level. So for his 1st month it was rough. Just hang in there. I hope all goes well for you and your baby.

[Nikki4289]

Take her out in the sun! It works the best. Just walk around outside and cover her face a little. Or sit her near a window with lots of sunlight, that's all you can really do.
Good luck <3