Anyone's baby have to have bili lights?

mamarazzi

The little miss looks like an Oompa Loompa.  She had her blood drawn this morning and it was 19.3, which is apparently rather high.  The home health nurse called and said they'll have to "double bag" her for a few days.

The boys were both a little jaundiced, but needed no follow-up care.  Am I going to be able to hold her with the lights?  Anything else I should know? 

I'm a hormonal trainwreck and this has me bumming out. 

Temp108743750006959

Yes, about that high and we stayed in the hospital for a week with DS in one of those bili beds from the 1970s. I hope, instead, that they can help you and baby at home. It sucked, but it was what it was and I was relieved when the # finally went down and we could go home!

hmckeown

Grace had bili lights in her incubator in the NICU and she had to be in for a certain amount of time, she came out to be fed and went right back in. It was about a day or a day and a half of that. And then we also used a bili blanket on her too which they wrapped her in once she was done using the lights. I hope that Ruby bounces back quickly.

It will be over before you know it. Good Luck~

Are they readmitting her or doing it at home?

Heather

JandB07

Yes, you'll be able to hold her.  Both of my girls had to do at home bili-blankets and the best advice I can give is make her eat as much as possible.  The jaundice will make her sleepy so you'll have to really work to make sure she's eating as much as you can.  Bilirubin is passed through stools so the more they eat then the more she'll poop and the faster it'll get better.  The blanket is a pain because there's a tube on one end of it that is connected to the machine, what worked best for us was to swaddle the light around her back.  Good luck!

jettagurl

Eli came home with a bili blanket.  They delivered it to the hospital, we took it home, then he had a follow up the day after discharge and his numbers were fine. So we only had to use it about 18 hours or so.  The home health company picked it up a few days later.  It's kinda cumbersome, but it's just a pad that would be next to his back, and we just swaddled around it.  the power cord came out by his feet.  

It's worth it to deal with just to be able to be at home.  

GL!  

Mrs Manners

Ds had the lights in his isolette in the NICU. They told us we could hold him, but recommended we not do so for very long because it was critical he be under the lights for them to do their job. We took him out to change diapers and put him right back in (he was still tube fed at the time). He only needed the lights for a day and a half.

Marce921

Yikes! That's high... how old is she?

As for holding her, it'll depend on the type of light she has. If she has a bili bed, she'll need to stay in it all the time except for feedings. If it's a bili blanket, then you'll be able to hold her with it. Not to freak you out, but I'm actually surprised they aren't sending her back to the hospital with that number.

mamarazzi

Marce921:

Yikes! That's high... how old is she?

As for holding her, it'll depend on the type of light she has. If she has a bili bed, she'll need to stay in it all the time except for feedings. If it's a bili blanket, then you'll be able to hold her with it. Not to freak you out, but I'm actually surprised they aren't sending her back to the hospital with that number.

Bili blanket.  She's not quite 72 hours old.

Marce921

Yeah,with a bili blanket you will be able to hold her. I'd actually leave it on while feeding if you can, too. Also, like someone else said, feed her as much as you can. The more she eats and the more she poops, the faster the jaundice will go away! GL!

monchichi

DD#3 went up to 18.something for her bilirubin level.  She was on a bili light at home.  We fed her on it, held her on it, and she slept on it.  It wasn't a big deal, but I was looking forward to letting her wear something other than just a diaper  She was on it for almost a week.

skippy2310

DD's numbers were that high too. They sent us home with the little lights that fit into her pack n play. She was supposed to stay under the lights as much as possible when she wasnt feeding. They sent a nurse out to the house daily to check her levels and we went to the pedi and hospital after 4 days and the number still not going down. I ended up having to pump and do formula for 24 hours.

mommy06

We went home with a light. It wrapped around her chest/tummy. Her numbers were up to 17. We had to give her pedilite in between feedings. She stabilized within 2 days, but it was a little stressful. Hang in there, she will be fine!

sooosie

Max had a biliblanket - here are a couple pics of how it looked.  We'd just use the gown w/o feet and then wrap him in a blanket if he was cold.  I think he had his about 3 days - we could pick him up and all that, it was just a pain since you had to carry the machine around too.