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12-23-2012 at 5:23 PM
mistressco...
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mistresscox is not online. Last active: 04-15-2013, 10:38 PMSilver

Jaundice lights/bilirubin lights (thoughts as a STM)

As we get closer and more of us are having babies I've seen a few posts about babies needing the bilirubin lights for jaundice and how they are having to pump to feed the baby because of it.  I just thought I would share my experience with DD as something to think about and possibly as for if you are in that situation.  (Sorry it gets long-the last paragraph is really the "message" to read if you're in a hurry lol.)    

DD had pretty significant bilirubin/jaundice problem when she was born.  For several reasons I wasn't allowed to see/feed her for the first 4 hours of her life (LONG story there) which I think sort of kick started our jaundice problems.  Anyway, at the hospital I delivered at there were several really rude/mean/unsupportive nurses, but one that was really wonderful and supportive of my decision to breastfeed DD despite our rough start.  One day DD's jaundice levels were going up despite being under the lights pretty much constantly.  I was told that I wasn't allowed to hold or feed DD for any longer than 5 minutes (which as a FTM it took me longer than that just to position her/me for feeding).  They really laid on the guilt trip, saying that if I wanted to hold her/bf her that it would just make her jaundice worse, and that I would be hurting her...blah blah blah.  

Needless to say I was absolutely distraught that I couldn't hold/feed my baby.  I was told she just had to stay under the lights all the time, no matter what.  I remember being an absolute emotional wreck, and when my favorite nurse came in for her night shift (it was her 2nd or 3rd with me so we already had a relationship) she found me sobbing.  I told her what I had been told, and how I really wanted to BF but not if it was going to hurt my baby (like I had been told) and how I was just really confused.  She asked why I couldn't bf and I told her about how I was told I couldn't have DD out from under the lights for that long and she called BS on the whole thing.  :)  My freaking angel.  

Ultimately this nurse put DD on my chest and brought the lights and put them directly over her and me.  So we got our skin to skin contact, I got my bonding time (and bf'ing) and DD remained under the lights as ordered.  There was NO reason for DD to sit in the incubator with the lights-she was able to sit on my chest with the lights still on her. (By then she was healthy and doing well except her high bilirubin levels.) So just something to consider if your LO ends up needing the light therapy for jaundice-it doesn't have to keep you from bonding or from breastfeeding if you want.  Most hospitals the lights are portable, so can plug in at your bedside while you feed/hold your baby.  

Just a thought for you all that I wish I would have known about before last time. :)   


 
12-23-2012 at 6:03 PM
AimeeL85
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Thanks for sharing your story!  I had a somewhat similar experience when my DS was born.  I wasn't able to even try to nurse him the first 48 hours, and after that, they took him to the nursery for 3 days straight for jaundice. They said the levels were too high for him to stay in my room. All I was allowed to do was go in there every once in awhile, hold him for a few minutes and feed him pumped milk, then put him right back.

After awhile they told us that technically parents aren't even supposed to come into the nursery because other parents might not like it. Huh?? As a parent the last thing I would ever have a problem with was another parent going into the nursery to see their baby. All of the other parents were able to take their babies OUT of the nursery and to their room, and we weren't. So really they just thought we shouldn't get to have any contact with our baby for 3 days. Great way to kick off BFing!

Anyway, occasionally they said I could go in and try BFing for a few minutes - but I had no idea HOW to BF - at all. I saw one LC who spent 5 minutes with me and concluded I would just permanently have to pump since he wouldn't latch.  It wasn't until our last night there that an awesome LC came in, brought DS with her, and spent a ton of time teaching us how to nurse. I am still so thankful for her to this day!  We still struggled at home, but she gave me the confidence to work through it.

I feel like this time around I will be more prepared and outspoken.  I was such a mess last time and didn't stand up for myself, or my baby, the way I should have.


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12-23-2012 at 6:53 PM
ChynaDholl
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ChynaDholl is not online. Last active: 01-11-2013, 8:27 PMNewbie
If baby has jaundice again, I will ask to breast feed baby in the window if the sun is out versus the bili lamp.

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12-23-2012 at 8:04 PM
mistressco...
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mistresscox is not online. Last active: 04-15-2013, 10:38 PMSilver

ChynaDholl:
If baby has jaundice again, I will ask to breast feed baby in the window if the sun is out versus the bili lamp.

Her levels were way too high for the sunlight to have been a whole lot of help.  Even taking her home and putting her in the sun after several days of being under the lights was barely enough to keep us out of the hospital again.  

 

AimeeL-I'm so sorry you had to go through all that.  :(  I'm impressed you were able to bf after a start like that though-you must have been one determined mama!  :)  Good for you!  It's a shame that ANY mother should have to feel like that, and I'm really hoping some FTM's read and are ready to argue some things if needed.  While a lot of "rules" really are there for safety, sometimes just asking (and getting an awesome/creative nurse) can get a different way to have the same solution to a problem.  At least now we know for this time, right? :)   


 
12-23-2012 at 9:08 PM
IsaiahGirl
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Thanks for sharing!  We had a very similar experience as well, and we had to start supplementing with formula because I couldn't get my supply up with just pumping.  I didn't know what to do and was blindsided by all of this as a FTM.  I'm also going to be very vocal this time about only BFing unless absolutely necessary.


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12-24-2012 at 12:02 AM
pitterpatt...
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pitterpatter129 is not online. Last active: 05-25-2013, 7:41 AMGold

My LO wasn't ever jaundice, but a friend's baby was.  They had a little swaddle suit with the lights built in!!  So, she was able to hold the baby 24/7 and bf, he just had to wear his little light suit.  Very cool invention.


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12-24-2012 at 7:59 AM
MTNurse
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pitterpatter129:

My LO wasn't ever jaundice, but a friend's baby was.  They had a little swaddle suit with the lights built in!!  So, she was able to hold the baby 24/7 and bf, he just had to wear his little light suit.  Very cool invention.

I was going to suggest asking about something like this too!! At the hospital I worked at we had bili blankets that we could just put right up to the back or tummy and just swaddle a blanket around baby to keep it in place.

While it is very important that a baby be under the lights if needed, it should no way hinder the BF process. And being under there is dehydrating so they need more fluids anyway!


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12-24-2012 at 8:52 AM
sbevmc09
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Thanks for sharing this.  This is something that I never thought about last time and thankfully we didn't have to deal with it.  Since then I have read some things about it and I'm glad that I did because it seems that the situation isn't always handled the best way.  Hopefully we won't have to worry about it this time either, but I'm glad I at least know a little bit about it now.

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12-24-2012 at 12:02 PM
financiald...
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Thank you for sharing this. Also wanted to add that you do NOT need to give a jaundice baby formula to flush it out of their system faster (in non-severe cases that is) Just keep breast feeding that baby, a lot! (If you want to BF that is)

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