Emily during "light therepy"
She did not like wearing those glasses. Poor thing would
move around so much that they would end up on her nose
and then she would really get upset. The lights used to lower
the Bilirubin is harmful to the eyes. This photo also shows
the I.V. she had to have. That was another heart-break for
me to see. She had to have her arm put in a stint, and was
taped up like crazy.
This is Emily after having the monitors taken off. Notice
the bright red marks on her tummy. After looking at this
picture, I realized how much she takes after Mya.
The Monday evening after Emily was born, we had to take
her back to the hospital for an emergency stay. We didn't know
much about what was going on, including if I would be able to
stay with her and continue to nurse. That was so stressful on me!
Here Emily was, 4 days old, and we had only been home for two days.
Since birth, the doctors had been watching her "Bilirubin" levels, but
even upon leaving the doctors had told us that they were on the high
side. Because this was my second child, they were going to send
us home and keep a close eye on how things were going over the next
few days. Monday morning we had to have her tested to see where
Emily's levels were. We were assured that everything looked fine,
and our doctor would call us with the results. It was several hours
later that we got the news to take her to the hospital ASAP.
When we checked in and they drew blood again, her Bilirubin was
so high that they told us if it didn't go down with light therapy in
three hours, we were going to have to be transfered to another
hospital, and immediately start a blood transfusion. Emily was at
a 25.4, and we were told that if left at that level over any period of time,
it would have a permanent impact on her brain and spinal cord. See
why I was stressed? Not to mention, they had to keep her in a plastic
box. The hardest part was when she was crying, and there was
absolutely nothing I could do to soothe her. I broke down in tears.
By Wednesday, she had come down enough, and been off treatment
long enough that we were able to come home again. Yesterday she had
a follow-up appointment, and everything is looking good. I will be so
happy when I can put this behind us. Thank you to everyone for all
your prayers and support through all the ordeal.
We had the chance to play in a couple inches of snow last week. Mya loved it! Emily and I didn't stay out long. Matt said that Mya asked if she could touch it, and he told her she could, but it would be cold. When she finally came inside, she realized that her hands hurt from playing in it so long. What a sweetie!
