Happy to be home again

Yesterday we took Madeline to her pediatrician for a recheck on her bilirubin and for a general introduction. Everything went well and we went home happy to know that she was likely going to kick the extra bilirubin on her own. Then a few hours later the little girl started turning blue around the lips and below her nose when suckling and sometimes just randomly. These “dusky” episodes were rather concerning and my mother-in-law and dad, both versed medical professionals checked and decided that it was likely nothing, but still somewhat concerning.

So we called her pediatrician again, who wanted to have her admitted to the special care nursery overnight for observation. One of the things they wanted to monitor was her oxygen saturation level, something we tried to do at home with an oximeter my dad brought home from work. We couldn’t get it to fit anywhere on her since it was designed for an adult finger, so I broke it trying to make it work. (I fixed it later that night)

We checked Madeline in to the Nursery where she was hooked up to a bunch of sensors and had some blood drawn for a culture. Michelle and Kathy spent the night with her, doing normal mom things like feeding and fretting, while I returned to be with Ella. It was a rough drive home, but I did manage to store up on sleep.

Michelle called this morning to let me know that they were being discharged, but that Madeline’s Bilirubin count had increased. Ella and I drove out to pick up the rest of the family this morning, and the combined joy of having a well baby and hearing the inauguration on the radio made me swell a bit. I tried to explain it all to Ella, but the best I could convey was that Mommy was finally coming home with sissy.

Now Madeline is upstairs sleeping with Michelle (also sleeping) and soaking up some blue light to help break down the bilirubin. It comes out as green poo. This will be the happiest I’ve ever been to see green poo.