Austin Babies

Boo for bilirubin!!!

Her levels are higher (9.6 at the hospital, 15 on Sat, 17.1 today). We are still dodging the photo therapy bullet at this point.. but we have yet another follow up Wednesday morning for yet another blood draw. Poor baby and her poor bruised heels. 

The good news today (besides her awesome weight gain) is that we made it down to Special Addition to rent a pump and get a supplemental nursing system. The pump is A-W-E-S-O-M-E.. I got 2.5 oz in 10 minutes compared to one ounce in an hour with the hand pump! YAY!

The SNS was a bit of a joke though.. maybe second time's the charm? Anyone use an SNS before and have any pointers? 

Re: Boo for bilirubin!!!

  • I'm so glad the other pump is working so well!  I could have told you to bypass the manual all together.  :)  Keep pumping momma!

    Boo about her levels.  Hopefully they will start getting lower soon.

  • Well, hooray for the pumping & breastmilk supply!  Keep it up, mama!!

    I hope her bili levels go down soon.  Keep kissing those heels!

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  • Yes to the new pump! The manuals have nothing on the electric.

    I'm sorry that her levels are still up. I'll be thinking about you guys on Wednesday morning!

  • Check with Mrs.Christmas.  She used a SNS w/ Alessandra so I'm willing to bet she has tons of tips.  They were really successful with it.  Do you  have her email/phone#?  I'll email them to ya.

    Boo to her levels, but it sounds like things are going to improve quickly!

  • I used an SNS for a while.  What issues are you having with it?

    :-)

  • So sorry about the bilirubin levels, lots of get the heck outta here bilirubin dust!!

    Yay for pumping 2.5 oz, so so awesome!! Your doing great mama!

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  • This is probably a stupid question (remember I'm NOT a pedi nurse!) but do they still recommend exposing the baby to lots of sunlight to get the bili to process?
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  • imageTaytee:
    This is probably a stupid question (remember I'm NOT a pedi nurse!) but do they still recommend exposing the baby to lots of sunlight to get the bili to process?

    We got mixed instructions about sunlight.. the baby nurse at the hospital said to open the shades during the day but not to leave her sitting there for long periods of time and not to go outside in direct sunlight. However, our pedi said that's not really the best idea because most glass panes block the 2 helpful light waves so she would only be exposed to the bad ones. He said ultimately we want her to eat, pee, poop to get the levels down.

    Amethyst - the more we've thought about the failure that was the SNS, I think it was user error and baby laziness! :) My mom was the one reading the instructions and putting it together (while I tried to nurse) and after I reread them just a bit ago, I don't know that she assembled it properly. We are going to try it again in the morning... but we are also battling to keep her awake at the breast, so that may have a lot to do with it. The girl latches on then immediately zonks out despite our best efforts to keep her eyes open. We're working on that....  

  • Sorry about the bili levels..I've been there and know how hard it is to watch those heel pricks over and over. Based on her age she should be peaking right now..right? Caroline was at a 19 when they let her leave the NICU because she was 5 days old and they said it shouldn't go higher at that age. Hopefully everything is perfect on Wednesday.
  • I used an SNS for a while.  I taped it to my boob right at my nipple and that seemed to help.  Also, we didn't have the membrane in it a few times and that made it much harder to use.  Sometimes if you squeeze the little bulb thing at the bottom it helps too.  It makes the milk come out a little faster and can help to interest the baby.  Careful though, if you do it too much you are just wasting milk.

    We also had a really hard time keeping Kate awake to eat.  I'm sure you know this, but they recommended that we nurse her in only a diaper.  Also, we would tickle her sides and feet, and occasionally resorted to the wet wash cloth.  Basically, they told us to piss her off.  Good luck!  I know it's hard, but this too shall pass. 

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  • Yep, I used an SNS too. I know you had lots of offers already but I'd be happy to answer any questions too. It definitely got easier after the first couple of times!
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  • SNS always took two pairs of hands to get it in her mouth correctly so that she wasn't just sucking on the little straw. I taped it just above my nipple, and DH would kind of hold the end in place while I got DD latched on. The tip would still flop around otherwise. We clicked the reservoir to my shoulder and DH would prime the tube so that the formula was all the way to the end of the tube. I got to your post late, so I'm not sure if you still have any questions, but feel free to email me if you still need advice or tips. My email is on my FB profile.

    And yay for pumping a couple ounces. I loved the hospital grade pump when I had it.

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  • Yay for a good pump!

    I hope her bili level comes down soon.  We were told to sit by the window with her when we fed her to get some natural uv light at home. (We still had to do phototherapy in the hospital, but I parked my rocking chair by the window for feedings at home.)  It will come down, don't worry. :)

  • Glad to hear that she's gaining!  I hope her levels have gone down when she gets tested again tomorrow.  Hang in there!!
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  • I posted this in another thread but with both my girls we had severe jaundice and with both of them we thought we had the bili stable and then they did a random spike then shot down so I am sure that is what your spike is. It was weird for both of them.

     

    For dd#1 we had a bili blanket at our house(they actually can rent them for you to do therapy at home) for a week to help her and for dd#2 we left her by the window and fed her every 2 hours and it worked. 

     

    good luck!

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