The First Week is the Hardest
Or so they say. I certainly hope they are right.
Sprout left the hospital with us on April 6th. He was jaundiced and they sent us home with this thing called a bili-bed. It's basically a tanning bed for phototherapy. The blue light it emits helps break up the bilirubin in his system, to flush it out and kickstart his liver. If the weather had been better we could have just taken him naked sunbathing, but it was cold and cloudy all week, so he had to use the bili-bed.
Here is the sprout in the bili-bed. Gypsy gave him that fancy pacifier.
The doctor said he needed to be in the bili-bed whenever he was not nursing. So I'd nurse for a while, then lay him in the bed and he'd stay there til it was snacktime again. Easy, right? Yeah. No. Let me just say, I hate the damn bili-bed. Every time I put him in it he screamed and cried, then I screamed and cried, then I picked him up and we rocked eachother to calmness. Then I felt guilty for depriving him of his medical treatment because I was so selfish and needed to hold him. I could not leave him in the bed at night. I would feed him, lay him in the bed with me and Matt, and then get up once he fell asleep and put him in the tanning bed. He'd usually wake up after half an hour and then we'd repeat the process.
This continued for three days, until I was a quivering mess. He was still a little yellow and we had to go to the hospital every morning so they could poke his tiny precious foot and bleed him for a bilirubin level test. I was starting to doubt my suitability as a mother. My folks and Matt's folks were all very supportive. All my friends came over and kept us company. Shawna and V. basically never left. On the 10th his levels were down and they came and took the stupid tanning bed away.
So that was most of the first week.
The second week hasn't been as bad. Sprout sleeps for three hour stretches and is much more alert when his is awake. He notices his surroundings now. He has grown a bit and gained some weight. He went to his Uncle Zach's for a crawfish boil on Saturday, to Duff's for brunch on Sunday and on Monday we visited the kids at BbH. He slept through most of these events, but he was admired by everyone who saw him.
Here he is with his Nonna. Sprout just adores my mom. She is an amazing Grandparent.
We are going to the doctor today for his two week check up.
I am looking for a pattern for some knitted pants for him. It seems that all the babies in the knitblogoverse have cute knitted pants, and I don't want Sprout to feel all left out. There are several I am considering, I just don't have the energy to link to them all right now.
In other knitting news, I am suffering from second sock syndrome on two pairs. I may have to go to Knitorious tomorrow to finally pick up all that yarn I have held there and start some new footwear. Or babywear. Who knows.
Sprout left the hospital with us on April 6th. He was jaundiced and they sent us home with this thing called a bili-bed. It's basically a tanning bed for phototherapy. The blue light it emits helps break up the bilirubin in his system, to flush it out and kickstart his liver. If the weather had been better we could have just taken him naked sunbathing, but it was cold and cloudy all week, so he had to use the bili-bed.
Here is the sprout in the bili-bed. Gypsy gave him that fancy pacifier.
The doctor said he needed to be in the bili-bed whenever he was not nursing. So I'd nurse for a while, then lay him in the bed and he'd stay there til it was snacktime again. Easy, right? Yeah. No. Let me just say, I hate the damn bili-bed. Every time I put him in it he screamed and cried, then I screamed and cried, then I picked him up and we rocked eachother to calmness. Then I felt guilty for depriving him of his medical treatment because I was so selfish and needed to hold him. I could not leave him in the bed at night. I would feed him, lay him in the bed with me and Matt, and then get up once he fell asleep and put him in the tanning bed. He'd usually wake up after half an hour and then we'd repeat the process.
This continued for three days, until I was a quivering mess. He was still a little yellow and we had to go to the hospital every morning so they could poke his tiny precious foot and bleed him for a bilirubin level test. I was starting to doubt my suitability as a mother. My folks and Matt's folks were all very supportive. All my friends came over and kept us company. Shawna and V. basically never left. On the 10th his levels were down and they came and took the stupid tanning bed away.
So that was most of the first week.
The second week hasn't been as bad. Sprout sleeps for three hour stretches and is much more alert when his is awake. He notices his surroundings now. He has grown a bit and gained some weight. He went to his Uncle Zach's for a crawfish boil on Saturday, to Duff's for brunch on Sunday and on Monday we visited the kids at BbH. He slept through most of these events, but he was admired by everyone who saw him.
Here he is with his Nonna. Sprout just adores my mom. She is an amazing Grandparent.
We are going to the doctor today for his two week check up.
I am looking for a pattern for some knitted pants for him. It seems that all the babies in the knitblogoverse have cute knitted pants, and I don't want Sprout to feel all left out. There are several I am considering, I just don't have the energy to link to them all right now.
In other knitting news, I am suffering from second sock syndrome on two pairs. I may have to go to Knitorious tomorrow to finally pick up all that yarn I have held there and start some new footwear. Or babywear. Who knows.
posted by sarahkate at
6:01 PM
3 Comments:
I am so glad you made an update. All us Knitorious folk have been curious about you and the baby. It looks like Sprout is doing great and look at that fantastic tan! Where does a baby get a tan that nice this time of year? :P Can't wait to see him!
i have to come see him! i have the cutest stuff for him that i bought before i knew it was a boy. think dinos. oh and he wont be wearing knited socks all the time...once you see what i have. i'll have to dig up your addy.
kisses.
KT
(please DONT bring him to the skatium!!!)
That picture of him and your mom is adorable!
I had jaundice when I was born, but this was back in 1979, and moms stayed in hospitals longer after births and whatnot. So separating me from my mom and putting me in the bili-bed was the nurses' responsibility. I'm sorry it was so traumatic for you. I wonder if it would be possible to use a sunlamp instead (like for SAD treatments), so that the mother and the baby could stay together while the baby got treated? Or maybe not, because in all my bili-bed pictures, I've got huge gauze patches over my eyes to protect them. Hm.
Anyway, I'm glad that's over, and I hope it only gets better for y'all from here on out.
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