When Jaundice Introduced Me to Billy Rubin

It turns out it is Bilirubin not Billy Rubin, despite what I had written in my notebook.

If you are a doctor, nurse, or in the medical field please feel free to laugh. Thankfully, with some phototherapy, my son made a full recovery from the jaundice! Let's rewind to the recovery room where they start to look like babies as opposed to little aliens. As my son healed from the birth canal I could see his features starting to settle in while I watched him in his bassinet. Let me tell you, two hours of pushing... that poor kid definitely went through it. Besides being swollen, what I took note of was, how amazing his complexion was! My siblings have the olive skin so I just figured, "ugh, of course the boys always get the best features."

However, after he received his tests I soon had two doctors coming in the room to explain to me about his bilirubin levels. Post partum me was scrambling in the moment because I guess birth ailments must have been something I skipped over in all my readings. I pulled myself together enough to grab a pen and my notebook (which honestly huge on my end to even think to pack) and wrote down every detail they said. I unfortunately did not understand the severity of it but knew this was affecting his liver and his coloring. So yeah, you guessed it, he was not actually olive but YELLOW.

They continued to monitor him closely which, I was thankful for and we did stay an extra night so they could see if the levels would decrease on their own. The day came for us to be discharged and the two doctors came back to explain where his levels were at. They felt as if his levels were still high but had confidence that they would lower, as that was how it was trending. We packed our bags up and brought our sweet baby boy home!

As the story goes when you have a baby you have to bring them to the pediatrician approximately 48 hours after leaving the hospital. They tell you not to lift heavy things but here you are, hauling the big ass car seat wearing your diaper. Don't get me wrong I am very thankful for the watchful eye, especially because they caught his levels elevate again. However, I was so sore walking into that appointment I just know I was shuffling while my diaper crinkled. My emotions were also extremely high coming into this appointment so, when they pricked his foot I was hysterically crying. Knowing that your baby is in pain but also being helped is very difficult to come to terms with, especially when you want to protect them.

We returned back home after the appointment and within two hours I was told I needed to return back to the hospital and he was being admitted. His levels had elevated so high they didn't want me to wait so, luckily my bag wasn't even unpacked from our initial stay! I grabbed my 6 step care routine for my hoo-ha and we hit the road. He was administered phototherapy right away and I was only able to hold him to breast feed him. I remember the doctor telling me his levels were so high there was possibility for brain damage or hearing loss.

As you can imagine, IMMEDIATE TEARS! I could not understand how writing "Billy Rubin" in my notebook, turned into such a stressful and serious situation. However, I trusted my doctor and nurses to give my baby the best care until he was better. Now, all while my brain is whirling about brain damage and hearing loss my boobs are simultaneously getting engorged... my milk was coming in. Let me tell you... it was coming in HOT! My chest felt very hot and it was red and blotchy. When I was breastfeeding him one of the nurses took note and said I was on my way to mastitis. Okay so let me get this straight, I am emotional, my son is sick, I am WEARING A DIAPER, and now my boobs may be getting infected?

So here I am on a snowy February night getting my milk expressed (essentially being milked like a cow) by a nurse who was trying to help relieve the build up and pain in my breasts. This nurse was an angel though, she helped me express into bottles so nothing went to waste. It was also so important for him to keep getting fluids to help flush his system! She also rotated heat and ice for my breasts and even made a soak for me to dip my mommy milkers in. During our three day stay I was able to fight off mastitis and my son was able to stabilize his levels. While I was angry they did not administer phototherapy while we were there after his birth, I was so thankful they acted quickly to get him stable and healthy again.

I now have a healthy 3 year old who never had an issue with his levels again and a notebook that in large lettering reads, "high Billy Rubin levels".