Our Little Banana (with update)

Yesterday was Henry's first doctors appointment with his new pediatrician. Everything looked good, except the fact that he was a bit yellow. The doctor wanted to check his bilirubin levels to make sure he wasn't jaundice. The test came back with a level of 24.7, which is higher than they would like it to be for a breast fed baby (19). 

We packed up our stuff and headed back to the hospital for the night so that Henry could get some time under the lights. 

Here's our little yellow banana:

He did surprisingly well through the whole thing. He got an IV, several heel sticks and had his temp and BP checked all night long. 

It's 11:00 right now, and we're waiting on his last blood tests to see how he's doing. At the last check, his levels had already gone down to 18 (and that was at 4:00am). The doctor told us that she would be very surprised if he wasn't back to normal with these latest tests. 

Something interesting about this whole experience...

I asked one of our first nurses how exactly the lights that he's under work to reduce the bilirubin levels. Here was her response:

"I'm not exactly sure how it works."

I asked the next nurse that came in and here's what she said...

"Um, I'm not sure."

I asked the next nurse on the shift...

"You know, I'm not really sure how it works."

Finally, I asked Henry's doctor how the lights worked. Here's what she said.

"I honestly don't know exactly how they work, but it helps to remove the bilirubin from his system."

UM... okay? 

I googled it. Here's how it works:

The bili light is a phototherapy tool that treats newborn jaundice or hyperbilirubinemia. The light is a blue light that converts bilirubin into nontoxic water-soluble components (by specific wavelengths) so that it can be excreted in the urine and feces. (This is why he was hooked up to an IV... so that he would urinate more and remove the bilirubin more quickly). Normally the liver performs this function, but in a newborn their liver can be easily overwhelmed.

Anyway... we'll keep you posted!

UPDATE: We got his tests back awhile ago and even though his levels are still lowering (they went down to 16), the doctors want to keep him in the hospital overnight again, "just to be safe".  

Dustin and I were going a bit stir-crazy in the room (which is really hot because of all the lights on Henry). We took a little break around 3:00 to run home, shower and pick up more clothes/supplies for the night. You should have seen Dustin and I running around at home trying to get back to the hospital as quickly as we could. We missed the little guy!

Once again, we'll keep you posted!