Jaundice

On the whole, Drew was a very healthy baby boy. The only problem we encountered was his jaundice. The night before Tiffany & I were hoping to take Drew home we discovered that his jaundice levels jumped from 11 to 13. Jaundice is measured on a scale of 1-20. 18+ is dangerous for the baby, 13-17 is causes for concern, and 12 or lower is ok.

Jaundice levels are determined by how much bilirubin is in your blood stream. Drew was born with a large bruise from his shoulder to his elbow since he was stuck in an awkward position before birth. As the red blood cells break down it release bilirubin. Unfortunately a baby's liver is not yet ready to remove the bilirubin from their system.



So they put Drew under these "bili-lights" which help break down the excess bilirubin and he passes it with his poop. They thought by noon he'd be better, but his level actually jumped again to 15. They thought maybe another 12 hours and he'd be ok to go. Unfortunately he was still at 15. But by 6:00am on Tuesday November 11th he was back down to 11 and they let us go home... FINALLY. :)