Jaundice in Newborn

My son had jaundice too. He was already in the hospital for other reasons. I forget what his bilirubin level was, but it was high. Anyway, they used the lights on him too and it helped a bunch. It didn't take much time at all, a couple of days if I remember correctly.

Hi sweetie~

Been there done that - want to know the horrible part? My milk gave my jaundice!! I don't smoke, do drugs or anything...go figure.

What seems strange is that they didn't let you do home treatment. My son stayed home if his levels were under 21 (he reached 20 and started to go back down) - they sent us home with a rented phototherapy light box (sat next to the bed) and we put him in it every hour for about 10-15 minutes. Also laid him out in the natural sunlight at every chance.

We did this for two weeks and wavered on hospital - did they give you any choices at all?

Don't worry, my daughter,now almost 3, had it as a newborn. We spent 3 days in the hospital and everything resolved. If they haven't told you already, if you are breastfeeding you should pump and save it. When my daughter was hospitalized they would not let me nurse because breastmilk makes it worse. Formula helps flush out their body. The nurses were really nice and brought me in a pump and bags so I could freeze it and take it home when we were discharged.

H.,

I know exactly what you are going through. My oldest daughter had jaundice really bad as well and would not breast feed. She was lathargic and tired and would not wake up even when I undressed her. Got very yellow and a nurse had to come by and prick her heel and she had this blue light on her in our bed. She slept with me as my husband had to sleep on the couch those first few weeks. Very stressful. She finally learned to eat and the blue light did the trick.
Just pray and hang in their, she will recover. Apparently this is quite common, and happens to anyone. So don't beat yourself up about it.

You are not alone. Hope this helps
Polly - Mom to three angels

Don't worry. Jaundice is very treatable. My son was the NICU for 3 days and then on a home therapy light for 4 more days. If your daughter wasn't eating, then the bilirubin can't come out in the poo. Once she is eating (and pooing), her bilirubin level will go down.
The only thing that was worrisome for me is that they were bottle feeding my son to make sure he got enough and when I tried to breastfeed him, he rooted AWAY from my breast. Darn smart boy already knew there was an easier way to eat. Anyway, a lactation consultant friend of mine helped me teach him to breastfeed... So all was well again.

FYI: The breastmilk itself does not make it worse. A baby just needs to be feed as much as possible so the bilirubin can flush out with the poo. Since at first, a newborn only gets the pre-milk stuff (I can't remember the word)... newborns don't actually get enough food to flush out the bilirubin, so they usually give the babies forumla.

Hi H.! We went through that with our son too. Don't worry, everything will be fine. Use that time to relax and get some extra rest. Once she is fine you will need lots of energy to deal with your two 4s. Good luck!

My second daughter was very jaundiced after we came home from the hospital--I think her bilirubin level was 15. She did not have to be readmitted but she was on the biliblanket for about a week and we were in the doc's office every day getting her foot poked.

The best things for your little girl right now are the bili lights, sunlight and breast milk. Don't let the doctors or nurses discourge you from feeding--they should be able to supply a biliblanket so you can hold her and feed her while keeping her on the lights. And in this case breast milk truly is best. The lethargy = no feeding = more lethargy is a vicious circle, but the more you can get her to eat, the better.

Stay strong through these next few tough days. Your baby girl will be just fine.

My son had the same condition. He stayed under the blue light for two days and it really helped. He's 6 1/2 now and doing great. God bless ya. I'm hoping he does fine.

D. B

My daughter also was on the light bed. I have heard they have blankets now that work the same way but you can hold them. I sure this must be stressful but do hang in there. Soon, soon you'll be all together at home.

Warm wishes,
J.

Hi H.,

How scary for you! My son was also born jaundice. He did not have it so bad to be admitted but he was pretty yellow for a few weeks. My niece did have very severe jaundice. She was readmitted at a few days old and had to spend a few days under the bili lights. I think it took her several weeks to get back to normal. Eating is the quickest way for the babies to eliminate the bile from their system (they eat and poop which is where it's excreted), so if she's not eating well, that's probably part of the problem. I was surprised at how common this condition is in newborns. I think the docs and nurses are great in treating this so have faith that everything will turn out right. They should be testing her bilirubin often and this will be a good indication of bili clearance. A little sun also goes a long way ( I took my son out for a few minutes of sun exposure when we first brought him home), but unfortunately, we don't have much around here right now!! Good luck and congratulations on your new baby girl!!

A.

First, don't panic or worry! This is something fairly normal. Our daughter had it from day one & they kept her for 7 days total. You do need to be prepared for what they will do - she'll most likely be in what I called a baby tanning booth & you won't be able to hold her. That was the worst part for me. She could only come out for feeding. Ask your doctor about the portable light boxes. We ended up going home with Abby & a light box - looked like a little suitcase. She had to sleep in that for a few days. She should also have some sunshades for her eyes. They'll just put a little dot of surgical glue on each temple to keep in in place. It comes off easily. Again, don't panic! I know it's hard to see your angel in the box & not be able to hold her but you will get through this. Good luck to you & your family.

Hi H.! My babe had jaundice and even though it seems really scary, the lights are amazingly good at taking care of it. My guy was a premie, so jaundice was practically guaranteed. They put him under a light in an incubator first. They will sometimes use a blanket that gives them the uv exposure that they need if it is necessary. They’ll test your daughter’s biliruben levels as they go along to confirm that they are going down. Don’t stress yourself out too much about this at this point. The Neonatal ICU nurses are absolutely amazing. Since my guy was my first, and he had jaundice plus a partially collapsed lung, I really worried myself sick. Oddly, though, seeing how well the nurses cared for him and how fortunate we were to have a baby who was so healthy and strong compared to the many fragile little babes in the NICU really put everything in a context for me. It is natural to worry, but this is just a little bump in the road at this point.

One thing I really appreciated was how accommodating the nurses were about breast feeding, or in my case pumping and feeding breast milk. You’ll get lots of support, and your daughter will be home with you in no time.

Take good care.

My daughter was under the ultraviolet light for a few days after she was born. She was born with the cord wrapped, but turned out fine. She hated the patches over her eyes though..she pulled them off herself so often that the nurse was ready to bandage her entire head LOL...one of those times all I could do was laugh. I didn't let them do it though. They ended up rigging some little bandage pads and sticking them to her with some of that skin-adhesive stuff (liquid sutures?) I don't remember what it was exactly. But, the treatment worked. It's a pain in the butt, and takes time. They gave me Hotel Stay after the first two days so I could stay with her and nurse her as I could. She wasn't eating well so I had to pump ALOT. When I left the hospital I had like 30 little two oz. bottles of frozen milk..it was so funny..they sent me on my way with all the amenities they usually do with a mom on her way home, and one of the nurses gave me a little styro-foam cooler to take home the bottles in so they didn't thaw at all. I had this little pyramid in my freezer for about two months before I had to start using it! Anyway, it appeared to be fine. My mom said my brother had Jaundice for what seemed like years but eventually it flushed of his system. From what I understand the liver does recover quite quickly from this. However, her skin was sort of sallow for the first couple of weeks. I just nursed her as much as I could and made sure I was drinking a lot of clear fluids too to keep from adding to the discoloration with any dyes or anything. (Like what carrots do when kids get to many.. and turn their pee orange.) (Scared me half to death when that happened to my son!). Wow did I make the doctor laugh.

Hi H. -

Well you've already gotten lots of responses, but here's mine anyway! :)

My son had jaundice, too - I can't remember the numbers. He was born at the beginning of a gray snowy February, so there was NO sun to sit him in. His levels took about two weeks to go down; they never *increased* much, and he was nursing, so we were able to avoid the light therapy, but we did go to the hospital every single day for the first two weeks after he was born so they could prick his little heel and check his levels. What a pleasure THAT was for both of us. :(

Anyway, as others have said - this is a very common condition, and it should resolve itself quickly with light therapy (maybe even in a couple of days). Although as someone else suggested, I would ask about renting a light that you can use at home so you don't have to keep going to the hospital...

Good luck! I'm sure she'll be just fine soon. :) Oh yeah - and try to get out into the sun for a while every day; that helps too. Go for a walk, or if you can't, just try to sit her in front of a sunny window. That's what I was advised to do.

HI there H.!
I went thru the same thing after my son was born, except they didn't admit him to the NICU until the day I was being discharged from home, although throughout my hospital stay, they checked his bilirubin everyday. I went home and he was at the hospital for 2 days without me there, except I went up everyday and everychance I could to see him. the lights worked great and he got better within days. After he was discharged from the NICU, I had to take him to his peditrician for the next 3 days to have his bilirubin checked, but his doctor told me to expose him to sunlight and make sure I was feeding him breastmilk and try to avoid formula. He hasn't had any issues since and he is now 2 1/2 years old.
I know it is frustrating not being able to care for your child because they have to stay under those lights as much as possible. But the nurses were nice enough to let me hold him and let me feed him when he was there so I could still have that bonding time.

Hi H.,

When my son was a newborn (14 years ago) - he was jaundiced and his bilirubin was in the 20's - The Dr.s office sent home health care to us and he had a light belt strapped around his tummy under his sleepers for a week or so, the only time it was removed was to take him to get his blood checked every other day. The light belt took care of his issue's and he's been a very healthy boy (except for tubes at 9 months) ever since!!

Good luck and I'm sure your daughter will be fine with the proper care she's getting.

Hi H.,

This happened to my daughter who is now 2 and a half. She refused to breast feed so we supplememnted her and she was fine after a couple of days. I will pray for strength for you and your family. I can imagine how stressful this is.

Hugs and Blessings,

K.S.

Our first son had high bilirubin count by day 4 also. Lethargy, constant coaxing to eat, yellow tinge to the "whites" of his eyes. Insurance covered the bili-belt and daily nurse visits to our home. What she did: Heel pricks, weight, # of wet & soiled diapers, how long and how often he ate. It took 7 days of bililights to bring his count down to 15. She said he was responding slowly - 1.1 points per day. He is now a very happy, healthy 11.5 yo boy who loves to read, tap dance and recently started Tae Kwon Do. No after-effects. :)

My first had jaundice also. They had him under the lights for about 2 or 3 days and I stayed in the hospital with him so I could nurse. That was pretty much all that happened, nothing scary. Sometimes I have heard of them sending a light machine home with you, but in my case, we were just discharged. I wouldn't worry too much, jaundice is a fairly common condition that is easily treated.

Congrats on your new baby!

Yes, this just happened to us last week. We're still having troubles with feeding. She'll do great for a few days and then fall back into not eating. Her doctor says its because she's not gaining weight and doesn't have enough energy to nurse. Are you nursing? How is it going for you?

Has she been tested for ABO blood incompatibility? If not, this might be a start.

Hi H.,

I feel for you. Although it is the most common thing that gets babies readmitted that doesn't make it any easier.My little girl had the same issue. The keys are to feed every two hours and keep the baby on the lights. The lights help break the bilirubin down but the poop is what gets rid of it. My milk came in late so i had to do this crazy supplementing with a tube with a nipple shield on and then pump right after and at every two hours it was a grueling experience but we survived it and my little girl was healthy in about five days. (Although we were allowed to go home after three, thank goodness!)

Many wishes for a healthy recovery.

Both of my daughters had jaundice as newborns. They were both born a bit early. The first underwent about 5 days of the phototherapy, with the frequent blood checks from the foot, and that worked for her. My second also underwent the phototherapy, but her level only slowly improved, and when she went off the lights, it shot back up again. It turned out to be induced by the breast milk, so we had to finger-feed her formula for 48 hours (while I pumped). That did the trick, and she went back to the breast easily. It was stressful, especially being so tired yourself, and not able to hold the infant as much as you'd like. However, in retrospect, it went by quickly and successfully, and they've never had any trouble since then. Let me know if you have any questions you want to ask me further.

Hi H.,
Its tough to go through this not really knowing much about the whole thing , I went through this with my little one a couple days after birth he was dressed warm in pjs when with me in the room because it was cold they took him to the nursery stripped him to a tee shirt and diaper when he came back he seemed to come down with a fever then thats when the dr, came in and was not too happy he got the billrubin to go home with me I had to keep him wrapped up all night except to feed every two hours, to keep from dehydration he soon was healed. When your little one gets home feed the baby with a lamp shinig over her for a good month the body will then take over on its own to attract the right amount of light. Relax all will be good, S.,

Hello, my daughter, who is now almost 8 years old, had a very bad case of jaundice and it lasted until she was 8 months old. We had to give her medicine for several months which helped but finally it got to the point that they did a biopsy of her liver. The results never could explain what was going on. I would say just keep doing what the doctors ask of you and keep your attitude positive, somehow even if the doctors can't figure it out, with alot of prayer, it usually works out just fine.

My prayers are with you, L.

My son's bilirubin was fine and we were discharged. The following day at his Dr's appt he looked yellow and was retested. I believe it was 15 (been almost 2 yrs) and I was fortunate enough to have insurance to cover the at home photo therapy and a nurse came once a day to do check ups and blood test. He was on the bed for 3 or 4 days and was good to go. It was very hard only being able to pick him up every 3 hours for only an half an hour. I was told I was lucky because they are much stricter in the hospital. Don't have any great words for you, because I know how hard it is not to hold your baby. But know that it is temporary and your daughter will be just fine. It should only be a few days. My thoughts are with you and your daughter.
S.

PS
When you get her home just ne sure she gets ALOT of sun (I know it's hard here in WA). I put my son's Playard in front of the window where he slept during the day. Because the bilirubin can go back up. I breastfed and had to supplement with formula to he was given the all clear. Just remember lottsa natural light (even when overcast :( ) and vitamin D. Phew! That was a long PS :)

Lights will help, but your breast milk will make the largest difference in her jaundice! The 18 is high, please don't think I am trying to discount that but keep feeding her with breast milk, by pump or breast feeding stay away from the formula and you will see a huge difference! I had to do that with my daughter who had surgery at 22 hours old. Once she had the surgery her body couldn't deal with all the chemicals and she went jaundice. Within 3 days she was at 'normal' jaundice levels for a new born, which was done by breast feeding her as much as she wanted and not removing her from my breast and not allowing any formula to pass her lips.

Good luck mama

S.

H.,
So sorry to hear about your little girl. My daughter was born 2 months early and after being hooked up to every machine made to man she got jaundice after 1 week. It felt like such a set back. I know you must have felt awful taking her BACK to the hospital. Rest assured that she'll only be under the lights for a couple of days. Watch her poop as it will dispel all the yellow gunk backed up in her. She'll be back with you in no time at all!
All my best thought are with you!

H., my second son was born with a severe case of hyperbilirubinemia. It caused a type of jaundice that required him to be under the lights for eight straight days. I could nurse him for 20 minutes at a time before he was put back in the isolet. Obviously, Joey's case was extreme. There have been absolutely no problems since, however. I'm sure your little one will be just fine. The worst part for me was that I couldn't be with him and holding him as much as I wanted to. We actually checked into the downtown Hilton so that we could be closer to OHSU. It was tougher on me than it was on him - by far. Having a second child just compounds the situation. But I think you can rest assured that your baby is being well cared for and that all will be just fine. Good luck.

my youngest daughter (6 weeks today) had jaundice too... my dr said that jaundice peaks around 4-5 days old... she hung at 18 for 3 days (day 3 to day 6) but she was gaining weight each day so we didnt up having to do the lights

my 2 year old also had it a bit and is happy and healthy and incredibly smart

the same thing happened to me when I was a baby and I am now fine with no medical problems. do not worry so much and if you are breast feeding keep doing it! Good luck you and your family will be in my prayers

My newborn had to stay in the hospital about 4 days because of jaundice. After she was released, we had to have a nurse come into our house and put her on an at-home light that fit into her bed. She was on that for about 3 days and also very lethargic. As long as your doctor is making sure she gets good nutrition, then everything should clear up if your baby stays under the blue light. I think that some doctors are just over cautious when it comes down to it and all it does is scare new parents. In our case, we were glad that our doctor took extra care in helping our daughter. The nurses that came to our house were also nice because I could ask them questions about anything. One nurse also worked in the special care nursery at Good Sam and guided me on how to breast feed. Good luck!

Jaundice is pretty common in newborns. Hang in there, your baby girl will be okay :)