bilirubin level is high for my new born kid

[baker123]

my baby boy is 10 days old and today , the bilirubin level is on 19.5. and doctor recommended for photo therapy .
am so much worried about the situation ,
is it a dangerous level..?
with photo therapy can it bring down to normal level...?


he was 3.3kg on delivery and today he gained 100gm. and he was delivered on 39th week.

we are so nervous

 

[baker123]

and add to that , on second day the level was 11.5 , doctor suggested to keep the kid on morning and evening sunlight and we did the same.

 

[AllyTiel]

Yes that is a level that needs to be treated but you really don't need to be worried. The doctor is giving you good advice just go with it! Only worry if you don't plan on treating it. If it gets too high and stays there without treatment it can cause cerebral palsy and brain damage. My daughters bilirubin got that high as well and spent a couple days in a light treatment blanket. It made her better.

 

[baker123]

thanks , actually my baby is under therapy for last 3 hours... , doctor suggested to re test the level tomorrow.
he is our first kid , and u know we had panicked... and is there any side affects while doing this therapy..?
and normally how much time it will take to reach normal level..?

 

[minties]

Aww, poor bubba. Hopefully treatment helps quickly!

 

[sbl]

Your baby is jaundiced. The phototherapy will make your baby better.

 

[Julesillini8]

My second daughter had high bilirubin. She was under the lights in the hospital for 2 days then we did it at home for a day. It will be ok, just something to get through. It should come back down with the photo therapy.

 

[baker123]

thanks all you guys..... this was kind of forum i was searching for last 3 hour...

 

[fieryphoenix]

Hey, my little one was badly jaundiced too. His numbers weren't quite as high (18's) but we did two days in the hospital under lights, then two days at home with a light blanket and that cleared it right up! Oh and feedings every two hours for a while as well.

Eta: he didn't have any side effects from the light and it took 5-6 days for his numbers to drop to normal, but he was only under lights for four days

 

[minties]

Sophie had jaundice and was yellow for 6 weeks and is fine now. We didn't do any treatment (my midwife advised that we don't really do it here unless baby seems unwell, I just took her word for it). I just got told to feed her frequently and expose her to brief periods of sunlight.

 

[baker123]

this is the situation happening right now in hospital , it 12 AM in india , he is waking up frequently when he is inside therapy. and he is not taking breast feeding for more than 5 minutes. he looks tired... , the tiredness is normal..?

 

[MrsButterfly]

My lo had jaundice and had phototherapy for 4 days. He got incredibly tired mid way through as he became dehydrated and tired from the heat of the lights. But then he did start to perk up. I started to express breast milk rather than just breast feed and he improved a lot from that as he became more hydrated.

I had a lactation consultant and we found he couldn't latch properly as he was so tired so expressing was the way to go for us even though it upset me at the time.

Hope your lo improves soon xx

 

[Julesillini8]

For my baby, the higher the level, the more tired she was. The more she slept, the higher the level was. The nurses wanted my to nurse frequently because the bilirubin is excreted more and more then. So it's kinda a cycle to break, the more tired they are, the less nursing they do, and it just continues on. So try to keep encouraging feeds often keep trying to wake baby to finish feeds and eventually with the phototherapy and wet diapers it will get better! I felt so upset with my baby so I know how it feels, but be encouraged that we've been through it and it does get better just keep trying to feed and continue what he's doing

 

[Pretty Please]

Yeah the lights makes him tired & also remember he's still a newborn so they sleep tones.
The lights will do wonders for your son (mine was under the lights 2.5 weeks)
Just make sure u set your alarm and fed your baby or he will lose lots of weight if he's under there 4 a long time ..... Mine got that tired that if I didn't wake and he wouldn't eat .... Unfortunately he got too sick to continue with bf ( just telling u so u don't get too disheartened if the mw tell u ff for the sake of babies health)
Hope your baby gets out of the lights soon x

 

[baker123]

nurse suggested to give lactogen for the mean time , is it fine ..?

 

[baker123]

we just got the new levels , it is been reduced to 18 , but doctor said , we can discharge from hospital after 5 more hours , and asked us to breast feed every 2 hours.

but my worry is 18 is still on higher side right , it is better to keep one more day in phototherapy right..?

 

[mrstrouble]

My baby had to do the phototherapy as well, for about 14-15 hours. No side effects and it brought the levels down quickly. My OB told me that when her son was born the phototherapy technology wasn't as good and he had to stay in the light tunnel for a week! So be happy it's so short and try not to get upset about it, I know it's hard looking at them in that little machine it seems like something major is wrong but it really is minor and will all be over soon!

Don't forget to make sure mama gets some sleep, because she'll have more milk if she does, and this helps baby! The levels should be down to normal by the time the baby is discharged from the hospital, and your baby will recover very quickly thereafter. You'll be amazed at how yellow your baby was by comparison in a couple of weeks!!!

 

[baker123]

so after therapy it will take some 2-3 days to get in to normal level..?
doctor told us not to restest again after the therapy because its been 2 continuous day we are taking the blood sample as it is not good to kid.

 

[Bookity]

my DD1 had high bilirubin levels at 2 weeks and we did a night & day of phototherapy at home (with what they call a bili blanket). Yes jaundiced babies get tired and the other ladies are right as well the more baby feeds the better as bilirubin is excreted in bowel movements and urine. I was a nervous wreck about it because I googled all this horrible stuff about high levels. DO NOT GOOGLE. Listen to the doctors and nurses. Hope the levels keep going down for you!

 

[Kellen]

Our LO was in the NICU for other reasons when she tested high for bilirubin levels as well. She was under the lights for two days and then in the jacket for a day. It still took almost two weeks after that before her levels dropped to normal and her stopped looking so yellow. But as the other ladies have said the more nursing the better. Breast fed babies typically get some form of jaundice due to the fact that breastmilk does not contain vitamin D. If his levels are dropping it sounds like he is on the mend.
It was very difficult to get our LO to eat because the jaundice made her very sleepy. Trying playing with his feet while he is eating. This will sometimes help them wake up. Also try diaper changes in the middle of a feed and stripping off clothes. We had to learn all the different tricks to get her to eat.