Bad News & Good News

Addison had her first visit to her real pediatrician on Tuesday, June 2nd. The doctor was concerned because Addison's jaundice was getting worse instead of better. We were sent immediately to the hospital to have her levels tested and the doctor called us within an hour to tell us she needed to be admitted to the hospital. No jaundice = level 0 Addison's level =22

The treatment for jaundice is photo-therapy, so Addison had to lay in a bed surrounded with these awful blue lights all day Tuesday and Wednesday. We could only take her out to feed her and change her diaper. They checked her levels every 4-6 hours --- poor baby has had her heel pricked 11 times (a horrible thing to see as a mother). The doctor ran a bunch of tests because she was running a fever and the jaundice got worse, instead of better after Tuesday. Long story short, they started Addison on an IV of anti-biotics (yes, my poor baby has an IV running in her tiny baby arm) Wednesday to clear up the infection (urinary tract) that was causing the jaundice to spread. Wednesday evening her jaundice level was a 10.1 and today it was a 9.3 (all the way down from a 22) it's a miracle! Addison was taken off photo-therapy (no more baby goggles and hot lights) and we were allowed to hold her all day long! Trust me she was never put down! The doctor called this evening to let us know that Addison was doing great and would be released tomorrow by lunch. What a relief... Our poor baby girl has spent her first week of life being poked and prodded in a hospital - we are really looking forward to taking her home. We are grateful that she was well taken care of and fortunately we caught the infection and the jaundice before it caused any serious damage.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers - they worked!