After we had Katherine we got to keep her with us for a couple of hours and introduce her to her brother, sister and Mamaw. Soon after, I had another procedure and was in recovery for a couple of hours so you can imagine my surprise when I was returned to my room and Katherine wasn't there waiting for me. Instead there was the current pediatrician on call waiting to explain why my baby wouldn't be rooming in with me. I was told Katherine had a positive Coombs test and had blood incompatibility causing her to be jaundiced. This wasn't the type of jaundice that Noah had as a newborn and this type needed to be dealt with aggressively. Katherine was in the NICU and I couldn't even hold her. What a shock and heartbreak to see her hooked up to an IV, an oxygen sensor, heart moniters, tiny eye covers and have three phototherapy lights on her. It was a lot to take in when I knew my baby was term and had been born two days before her due date. It was a lot to take in when I thought I would be returned to a room where I would spend the next two days bonding with my new baby girl. We would spend the next 5 days in and out of the NICU spending as much time as possible with her and telling her how very much we loved her. It was the third night that we found out that her bili count was leveling just a bit - it was hard watching her little foot get stuck over and over and watching it swell up from all the little pricks. They could only stick one side with the IV in the other foot. With her bili count leveling they began taking off the photo therapy and also decreased the IV fluids to see how she did. By the next morning she was off the IV fluid and lights and her count had only gone up a couple of points. That day was such an awesome day because I got to hold her, feed her and touch her - everything was going so much better. By the fith day we knew she was coming home -What a joyous day!
After we had Katherine we got to keep her with us for a couple of hours and introduce her to her brother, sister and Mamaw. Soon after, I had another procedure and was in recovery for a couple of hours so you can imagine my surprise when I was returned to my room and Katherine wasn't there waiting for me. Instead there was the current pediatrician on call waiting to explain why my baby wouldn't be rooming in with me. I was told Katherine had a positive Coombs test and had blood incompatibility causing her to be jaundiced. This wasn't the type of jaundice that Noah had as a newborn and this type needed to be dealt with aggressively. Katherine was in the NICU and I couldn't even hold her. What a shock and heartbreak to see her hooked up to an IV, an oxygen sensor, heart moniters, tiny eye covers and have three phototherapy lights on her. It was a lot to take in when I knew my baby was term and had been born two days before her due date. It was a lot to take in when I thought I would be returned to a room where I would spend the next two days bonding with my new baby girl. We would spend the next 5 days in and out of the NICU spending as much time as possible with her and telling her how very much we loved her. It was the third night that we found out that her bili count was leveling just a bit - it was hard watching her little foot get stuck over and over and watching it swell up from all the little pricks. They could only stick one side with the IV in the other foot. With her bili count leveling they began taking off the photo therapy and also decreased the IV fluids to see how she did. By the next morning she was off the IV fluid and lights and her count had only gone up a couple of points. That day was such an awesome day because I got to hold her, feed her and touch her - everything was going so much better. By the fith day we knew she was coming home -What a joyous day!
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