The day that we were discharged from the hospital was on Friday, June 4th. My doctor decided to have us stay in the hospital an extra day since I had had twins. The babies' pediatrician came in to check on them and ordered a bilirubin count test to be done. Even though they had had one a couple of days before, she thought they were looking kind of yellow. It was starting to get late in the morning and they still hadn't done it, so I reminded the nurse and she came in and did it. I started to get ready to be discharged and she came in with the discharge papers and we got those all signed. The nurse assured us that we didn't need to wait for the results of the bilirubin count, so all of us went home. It was kind of fun riding in the wheelchair holding both babies.
When we got home the kids and Grandma were all waiting to see the babies - and me, I hope. After a couple of hours, Michael reminded me that the doctor would like to see the babies on Monday, so I called to make an appointment and the receptionist asked if we were home - she seemed a little surprised. About 10 minutes later, the pediatrician called and was pretty upset because the hospital was NOT supposed to release us until the results from the bilirubin test had come back. It turns out that the bilirubin count was high enough that Zac should not have been discharged. She told us that she was very sorry, but that we would have to take him back to the hospital to be under the lights for jaundice. I was a little too emotional to do it (and I had another baby to take care of), so Michael took him back to the hospital armed with a diaper bag and a few bottles of breast milk. The procedure was to put him under the lights for 4 hours, take another bilirubin count, wait 4 hours for the results while he was still under the lights, take another bilirubin count, etc, etc, etc.
Michael, Sam, and I went to visit him on Saturday. I was able to nurse him while we were there for a couple of hours and then we went back home. It was very difficult to leave him, but I knew I had to take care of Sam and that Zac was receiving the care that he needed at the hospital.
By Sunday early morning, his count had gone down to about a 10 (it had to be under 12) so they took him off the lights and took one more test to be sure that the count didn't skyrocket again. It only went up to an 11, so he was able to come home later that morning.
Sunday, June 6 - Zac (L) and Sam (R) on the day Zac came home
We took him to see the pediatrician on Monday and she felt that he still looked pretty yellow, so we took him back to the hospital for an outpatient bilirubin test. The test came back at a 12, but he was a little older, so it was still okay. She sent us back to the hospital Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for the bilirubin counts and the numbers kept climbing. By Thursday, the numbers were about 18.2, so on Friday (which was when we got the results), he was again admitted to the hospital. I took him and Sam to the pediatric unit (since he was now too old to be in the newborn area) and he got a nice corner room. I stayed there for a couple of hours and Michael came to see how he was doing. We left about an hour later - I mean, it IS a hospital with a bunch of sick people there. With Sam still being so young, we didn't want him to be exposed to all those germs if he didn't have to be.
The nurses at the hospital were so good, they moved Zac to a room straight across from the nurses station so that they could keep a close eye on him. He had some really wonderful nurses while he was there. The hospital sent down nurses from the NICU to take care of him since he was so young.
Saturday, June 12 - Zac in the Children's Hospital
I was able to visit him on Saturday morning (without Sam this time) and stayed with him for a couple of hours. I fed him and got to hold him for a while, then went back home to feed Sam. Zac's bilirubin count went way down by Sunday and he was able to come home. When Michael brought him in, I immediately noticed how wonderfully pink and light his skin was. It was wonderful to have him home with his brother!
Wednesday, June 16 with the quilts that Aunt Betty made
Above: Zac and Sam, Below: Sam and Zac
Thursday, June 17 - Zac with Katie
Sam with Nathaniel and Zac with Eliza
1 comment:
they're so beautiful! We always had bilirubin problems in our family, too. That's very frustrating about the misjudged discharge--grrr. Kind of like when you go in to deliver the baby and they send you back home, right? I'm glad everything worked out fine. The babies are absolutely wonderful. I loved seeing the pictures of them.
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