I took Joel in for his 2 week check up this morning with Dr. K. He's doing okay, but not great. Still not up to his birth weight (he was 7 lbs 12 oz this morning), so we have to go in for a weight check next week. Dr. K wasn't too concerned, but it was a little disheartening for me since I'd felt like I was doing really well with nursing this time around, but Alyssa was up almost a pound from her birth weight at her 2 week appointment, so I had hoped the Joel would be following in her footsteps. They thought he still looked a little yellow, so checked his billirubin (sp?) levels and they jumped up again, which again is disheartening. We take him back to the hospital on Monday to have them rechecked and if they haven't dropped Dr K wants me to stop nursing him for 3 days and put him exclusively on formula. I'm so anxious about what that would mean. I worry that I won't be able to pump enough to keep my supply up. I worry that after being on bottles for 3 days straight Joel won't want to nurse anymore. I worry that he won't take a bottle at all and it'll be a huge struggle. I had a lot of difficulty pumping with Alyssa, so I'm not sure that if it came down to need to pump exclusively I could physically do it. And it makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong because I chose to breastfeed him and that can increase a baby's odds of having jaundice. But on the up side, they did check his liver function and that checked out perfectly, so the jaundice is probably just due to all the bruising he had after birth and not a sign of a more serious issue.
During this appointment, my mom was at our house watching Alyssa. Both she and my dad were supposed to come down, but my dad hadn't been feeling well and was actually going to the doctor himself this morning. Which was a huge sign that he felt REALLY bad, because its like pulling teeth to get that stubborn Dane to go to the doctor. After I got home from Joel's appointment my mom said that my dad had called and his doctor wanted him admitted to the hospital immediately. All my dad could/would tell my mom was that the doctor said that he was really sick and needed to be in the hospital. They've still been a little vague with me (don't want to worry their "baby", I suppose), but it sounds like he just has a bladder infection, but the doctor wanted him on IV drugs to help him get over it more quickly. When I talked to him tonight the doctor had just left and had said that it was a really good thing that he came in when he did because if he had let it go even until later this afternoon Dad would have been in a lot of pain and in a lot worse shape. My mom says that he looks good and he's feeling better and when I've talked to him he seems in fairly good spirits, so I hope its something that passes quickly.
5 comments:
Prayers for your dad, Joel, and you.
He was three weeks early so that plays a part in their jaundice too. I'm willing to bet he'll start to get much better soon. Keep nursing as much as possible and the weight thing I wouldnt worry about to much, every baby gains differently. :) I will be praying for both Joel and your dad.
KREESTI! CONGRATS! I wouldn't worry about the weight...I have learned first hand that #2 is COMPLETELY different than #1 and to top if off...one is a boy and the other a girl so that makes a HUGE difference too! If liver functions checked out okay I wouldn't worry too much. It will all work out they way it's supposed to. As far as the nursing thing...NO CLUE! Matt was formula fed from day 1. It's amazing though what your body knows what your baby needs...don't get too discouraged. Trust DR. K...he's AWESOME! I know the formula thing can be frustrating Matt was on $25 formula for almost 3 months! He's still a little guy...they're pretty resiliant (sp?) Matt has proven that!
Christi, Ainsley had jaundice for EIGHT weeks. It was never to the point where we needed a bili light or anything, but even the whites of her eyes were yellow. My ped never suggested I stop nursing, so maybe Ainsley's wasn't as bad as Joel's. I know you said in your most recent post that his levels are better, but if they go back up again and he's looking yellow again, try not to worry too much. Other than him looking kind of funny, he's mostlikely totally fine. I was finding that Ainsley wasn't pooping but once every three days, and that made it worse. Anyway, hopefully all the jaundice will be gone soon!!!
Oh, also, the difference between the weight for my two has been enormous too. Avery was a FAT little baby and Ainsley is a total string bean. Just my first indication of how different these two are going to be :)
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