Ethan is still beautiful, but life is not.
In the wee hours of Monday morning, Ethan's billirubin levels shot up dramatically. Like, enough to wake his pediatritan in the dead of night and get him admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
His levels have stablized, thanks to constant light therapy. But they are still way too high, so although I have been discharged, I am rooming in with Ethan at the hospital.
His doctors are unsure of what caused such a rapid rise, but it is most likely a maternal blood incompatibilty issue or some kind of rare genetic thing. In any situation, the outcome is good, and we are thankful for that.
The hardest thing is that we cannot hold him, since he has to be under the lights contantly. Evie is home, while Chris and I are not. This is certainly not the way I imagined our family life would start out.
Everything should calm down in the next few days, and we hope to go home soon. Ethan will probably remain on 24/7 light therapy for awhile there, but at least we will all be together. And that will be the start of something very, very good.
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Oh, Sarah! What a terrible way to spend your first few days with Ethan.
We'll be thinking of you and hoping for a huge improvement in his numbers.
So sorry to hear this...I'll be praying that you and Ethan will be home soon.
that's so hard! hang in there. i spent the first 5 days in the hospital w/ gibson b/c of his jaundice...it definitely is not what you expect to happen during the first few days with your baby, but it's for the best. praying for you and ethan.
we are praying for him! and for you!
I'll be praying for you all. I know how it is to not be able to hold your baby. The time pass faster than you know and little Ethan will be home!
Oh, Sarah! Lots of prayers for you guys! Hang in there!
Oh no! I hope they get this figured out ASAP and get his levels stabilized and lowered quickly.
When my daughter was born she was also admitted to the NICU for fluctuating bilirubin levels. For two weeks they couldn't figure out why they would go down and back up. When they discharged her at 2 weeks on the dot, the head pediatrician told me they thought it might be because there was a small pocket of blood above her brain from "birth trauma" and that the high levels of bilirubin in that blood was mixing with the rest of her blood as it worked its way back into her system.
I have no idea if that was accurate, but that was the most difficult two weeks as a parent that I've ever had. I hope your little Ethan recovers much more quickly!
I am so sorry!
I sure hope it's just an RH factor problem. Little Z spent days 3-10 of her life in the NICU for super high billirubin levels. 6 days under 3 bank lights and she was fine. Oh how I wish fewer days of the same treatment help the poor baby.
We'll keep you all in our prayers. Keep us updated momma!
We're praying for your whole family. =( Ethan is in our Ultimate Healer hands!
My heart is right there with you. Because I know exactly what you're going through. HUGS!
Nell
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