We were so excited to take Lydia home on Sunday morning, and then the Dr. advised that they keep our sweet girl for a couple more days due to a mild to intermediate case of jaundice. (our blood types are different... something to do wtih my blood creating antibodies that she had to fight? Crazy.) We hardly noticed it...she didn't really turn all yellow and I don't think we would've had any idea had they not noticed the increasing level of bilirubin in her blood. The bilirubin count was higher than they like and they wanted to give her the bilirubin lights treatment before sending her home. Thankfully, they discharged Mommy from Postpartum before admitting Lydia to the Pediatrics unit, and Oliver and I were allowed to stay at the hospital and sleep in her room with her. Poor Lydia had to be placed in an incubator under special lights for 2 days and nights! It was hard on Mommy and Daddy, because we couldn't take her out to hold her except for 30-40 minute feedings. I kept projecting onto her that she might be sad, which made ME sad, but honestly she hardly noticed what was happening because the lights are nice and warm and she was still pretty much still zonked out from the whole birthing experience. She had to wear special goggles to sheild her eyes from the bilirubin lights. At first they broke my heart and we cried feeling so sad that she had to be in this special crib with huge goggles and no one to hold her... But God gave us peace about it and we realized she truly was okay. The goggles even became funny. She looked like either a superhero or a fighter pilot. She never complained through the whole yucky experience, except when the nurses, blood test lab people and vitals would bug her with blood pressure checks and blood tests. Finally on Tuesday morning the pediatrician said we could go home! Our girl is perfect! Really it was never a dangerous situation... They just wanted to be sure her bilirubin level didn't continue to go up once we got home. It was all more precautionary than anything. After being the hospital since Thursday night, we were SO ready to go home! Mommy needed fresh air and a break from all of the nurses and doctors who would bug us just about every hour on the hour. Oliver was wonderful and so supportive. He took good care of us and ran all of the important errands and dealt with paperwork and insurance, etc. He was right there with his little girl the entire time and made sure we both felt okay about everything. The whole experience just made us all the more grateful for a healthy, beautiful baby. We realize that many parents have to go through much more critical experiences and I just can't imagine... We are so happy to have Lydia home and out of that hospital! Enjoy these pictures of Lydia under the bilirubin lights... We can laugh about it now, but hated it in the moment!
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