Home And (Almost) Healthy  

I'm typing this post with one hand, as Baby C sleeps on my chest -- so it's going to be short and sweet.

Baby C and I came home from the hospital on Sunday, Mother's Day, just as I'd hoped. I was lucky enough to be able to get a parenting room in our hospital's NICU, which guaranteed I'd never be more than a few feet away from my precious baby boy. Because of this convenience, I was able to start exclusively nursing C on Thursday. He's done great; he was born at 6 lbs 11 ounces, and as of today is already up to 7 lbs 9 ounces (he's gained a whopping 9 ounces since Monday!).

Of course, a continued concern has been C's bilirubin levels. When he was born, his bili was at 7.1. While on phototherapy, his levels dropped; but as soon as we took him off all the blue lights, they shot up. By the time we left the hospital on Sunday, his bili had nearly doubled to 13. At his first pediatrician's appointment on Monday, his levels had climbed yet again to 14.2.

To say I was panicked by those numbers would be an understatement. I was terrified and paranoid. I was constantly looking at his skin tone, wondering if it was yellower than it had been the previous hour. After an intense internal debate, I decided to call the pediatrician this morning and request a follow-up blood test.

Although I definitely didn't like the idea of pricking my poor baby for what has to be the 50th time so far in his little life, I am glad I insisted on the blood test. The pediatrician just called to tell us C's bilirubin level is down to 12.1 -- praise God! By C's age (9th day of life), once those bili scores begin going down, they tend to keep going down... we're not out of the woods just yet (it could take several weeks before his jaundiced color vanishes completely), but we've seen the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

I have so much to say about how life as a family of four is going for us, but this single-handed typing is taking me for-ev-a as it is, so that'll have to be another post for another day.