He Looks a Little Yellow

The day after Imanuel Alexander was born, he had to do the Newborn
Screening Tests.  Basically, they had to poke his heel and they
drew enough blood to test for about 7 rare birth defects.  They
also drew blood to check his bilirubin levels to see if he was
jaundice.  About 60% of all newborns are jaundice but only for the
first few days.  Imanunel had border-line bilirubin levels so they
gave us what they call a bili-blanket which is artificial UV light to
help lower the levels.  The next few days, the baby continued to
look a bit yellow and so even after we were discharged from the
hospital, the very next day, we had to take the baby into our
pediatrician to get his heel poked again to draw blood to check his
levels.  The levels were still on the high side, so a couple days
later, we had to go in AGAIN and he had to get his heel poked. 
The baby was so traumatized from the pokes because not only do they
poke with a needle that looks like a flat screwdriver, they SQUEEZE and
SQUEEZE their poor little foot until they fill a tube with blood. 
Anyhow, at our last visit to the pediatrician (our third one already!),
which was this past week, the doc told us that his levels were
normalized and the baby didn’t look yellowish at all anymore.  My
parents weren’t at all nervous or worried.  They say that most
Asian babies are born like that and me and all of my siblings were born
jaundice, but with physiological jaundice, which is the kind that goes
away a few days after birth.  So anyway, here are some pictures of
the baby with the bili-blanket in the hospital and afterwards.


Me and baby (on the bili-blanket…but you can’t see it very well).

Here’s a better look.  His skin had to be directly on bili-blanket
during a lot of our stay at the hospital.  He didn’t like it very
much, and because Israel HAD to sleep with the baby every night we were
in the hospital and the gray cord didn’t stretch that far, Israel made
the executive family decision that the baby didn’t need the stupid
bili-blanket anyway.  (When he was with me, I made sure he was
laying on the bili.)

We nicknamed him our little “glow-worm”.

When we got home, each time the sun was out, we stripped IA and put him in the sun to help lower his bilirubin levels.
 
His poor feet/heels that were punctured more than 4 times in less than one week of life (2 on each foot)!

But at the end, everything turned out!  Israel was very excited about that.

But Bentley remains a bit sad that he has become #2.  “Will someone come over and play with me?”

So all you Asians out there…when you have children, don’t be too
worried if they think your baby might have jaundice.  Most likely,
it will be gone within a few days.  ^_^  Until next time, God
bless!