Baby face

Here's a picture of Meg's face, compliments of Jennifer. Her hair looks a little darker already, but she does have some blond highlights.

(Warning: The phrase anal sphincter mentioned below). Today's bili count was held steady at 18. A new complication is constipation (she had no dirty diaper yesterday), which is preventing the bilirubin from leaving her body. To check that her anal sphinchter isn't "too tight" and thus preventing bowel movements, Dr. Murphy took a gloved finger and felt inside, you know, there. The result was immediate poop and a screaming baby, but the sphincter is fine. The remedy is a suppository if no poops later today. And being that there have been none, Bjorn has stepped up to the plate and will administer the treatment. Groan on all counts, especially hers. We go back tomorrow. Hopefully the count will be down and we can move on.

Heel sticks

Well, the jaundice saga continues. Bjorn took Meg back to the pediatrician's today where her bilirubin came back at 18. So we've gone from 14.5 on Monday afternoon to 17.5 on Tuesday morning. Then it was 17 at the hospital on their more accurate machine only to be 18 on his limited screening machine. The worry is that if it gets up over 20, brain damage is a worry. Great.

The good news is that the better machine confirmed it's not the really bad kind of jaundice (although apparently there is no good kind exactly). He thinks that it has plateaued, but we have to keep coming back for heel sticks and bilirubin checks until it's confirmed to be on the way down. In the meantime, we were instructed to put her in the sun as the sun helps process the bilirubin. Fortunately, it was a warmish day, about 50, so we were able to sit outside a little. It does seems strange to purposely have a five day old baby out in the sun with all the worry about sun damage, but it does seem worth it in this case.

Meanwhile, my sister was saying she hadn't seen a picture of Meg's face to get an idea who she looks like. This is a little out of focus, but it's the best straight on picture I have. I didn't realize how round her face was until I saw this picture. She does resemble Andy as a baby, but that's as far as I've gotten.

Update

We went to Fairfax Hospital this afternoon to have Meg's bilirubin level checked there to measure for jaundice. Apparently they have a much accurate and sophisticated way to check for the levels than the pediatrician's office. The good news is the level is now 17, down from 17.5 earlier today at the doctor's office so we don't have to admit her for the phototherapy treatment. We go back to the ped's office tomorrow for another check, but we're feeling optimistic.

Poor Meg though. She's been getting heel sticks twice a day practically since she was born. Good thing she's not having to walk anywhere.

Jaundice

Miss Meg has jaundice. The pediatrician seemed to think it should be "obvious" that she has a touch of yellow, but we certainly hadn't noticed. They did the heel stick and tested her blood yesterday and her count was 14, apparently 20 is the worry point so we weren't worried.

Bjorn took her back today for her follow up to spare me more heel sticking (plus I was home with Andy who naturally has a stomach bug with vomiting and diarrhea). Turns out her bilirubin level today was 17 - yes, the wrong direction. So we're off to the hospital in a bit for a more accurate test to better evaluate her levels. And if they are indeed worrisome, we have to admit her for two days while they administer light therapy. The therapy et al sounds fine, but I am not liking the idea of leaving her. In the meantime, I have her wrapped in her bassinet by the window in our bedroom hoping to get some light on her and hopefully reverse course on this.

I'll keep you posted.

Pictures

Margaret Anne, hot off the presses. To think they said she'd be 8 1/2 pounds on the high end if she delivered on schedule. As it was, she was 8 1/3 a week early.

The happy and exhausted parents.

My mother and Meg's namesake.

Meg's other grandmother and other namesake. (To be fair, Margaret Anne is neither of their names exactly, it's more an homage to Margareta and Nancy.)

Andy meeting his new sister. Me looking like I just had a baby.

My mother's bag. You'll notice the small bottle of Dewar's in the pocket. She is a very smart lady.

The O.B. who delievered Meg. She stopped by to check on me and was so glad I took her picture when she was cleaned up and hadn't been on call for two days. And yes, I do think she's younger than me.

You guys said I could wear sweats to leave the hospital. And I did. Great decision.