Bilirubin 101

Sorry it has been a few days since the last post but I'm having trouble finding time to shower and brush my teeth, let alone play on the computer! This week has been incredible! On Monday afternoon we were able to bring Kaelyn home from the hospital. Grandma Dale came up to help us out and helped with the late night shifts. On Tuesday the nurse came and checked out Mommy and Kaelyn. Kaelyn lost a few ounces but the nurse was not concerned about it. She was a little concerned about the yellow coloring of Kaelyn and so took a blood sample to have her bilirubin tested. What is bilirubin? Jaundice babies, ones that are yellow, have hyperbilirubin meaning that they have too much circulating in their system. All of us have red blood cells that get old and die, as this occurs they break down into a byproduct called bilirubin. Normally the liver cleans up the bilirubin and it is excreted, no problem. However, in jaundice babies their liver is not functioning properly yet and so they get a builed up of the bilirubin which causes the yellow appearence of the skin. The test results came back later that day and they were higher than what the doctor liked so she ordered us to take her to the hospital the next day for more blood work. Wednesday Jeff and I ventured to the hospital to the outpatient center where we were directed to take Kaelyn. Upon arriving they sent us up to L & D saying that no testing was happening in outpatient that day. Once we got upstairs to L & D they told us to go back down to out patient...but a different wing then where we had just been. Now, any of you who have seen me trying to walk the last couple days can imagine how long this whole process took....I'm not exactly speed racer these days! Kaelyn screamed through her heel stick and later that day we got the results that her bilirubin levels were still high so we would have to go back to the hospital on Thursday for more blood work. When Thursday morning arrived I asked Grandma Dale if she would help Jeff take Kaelyn to the hospital as the trip the day before had caused me some serious discomfort throughout the rest of the day (I think a combination of sitting in the car and all of the walking around). When Thursday's blood test came back her levels pretty much remained the same as the previous 2 days which is actually good news. We have a doctor's appointment for next Monday at which point they will take a look at her one more time.