"Normal" Baby?

[ab2401]

So Rylee is 5 weeks old. She has jaundice and her levels have been all over the place. They have gone from 5 to 14.2 which was the highest.... on the 6th of this month she was re tested (the 8th time) and her jaundice level was 8 which to me is still pretty high, and she was retested last Thursday and I haven't gotten those results back.

To me it seems like she has had jaundice for WAY to long, I know the levels haven't gone up so high that she need a light.... well my doc. said she gives them out at 15... which to me 14.2 is really close, but it just seems like it should be gone my now.... I have done some research and more then 50% of babies have this and in more cases then not it is gone by time the baby is 2 weeks old.


Well Rylee is 5 weeks and last time we checked her levels where still pretty high.


She rolls her eyes back in her head alot, I'm getting scared the jaundice is reaching her brain.

Does any one elses baby do this a lot?

 

[Jenny]

I'm sorry you and Rylee are going through this. I would call and get the last results, if they aren't better, I'd demand to get her put under the lights. 5 weeks seems too long to me, but I'm not sure how long its suppose to last. Isis's jaundice is almost completely gone and its been 2 weeks.

Don't worry though hon. The jaundice levels need to be really high to start affecting the brain. I think its 50? when it starts affecting the brain or so I've read. But at least if you demand to put her under the lights, you'll only have a few days to get through and she'll be better instead of being in limbo.
The rolling eyes thing, is she doing it when she's falling asleep? cause Isis does that sometimes too.

I hope things start looking up for you and Rylee soon

 

[ColtonsMom]

My LO had jaundice. It went from 9 to 14. Stayed at 14 for a few days then went to 11. Now he isn't yellow anymore so our doctor stopped testing him.

We had to feed him every 3 hours, and he had to eat at least 2 ounces. She told us the more he ate and POOPED then the better it would get.
He is almost two weeks old, but the jaundice has been almost gone for about 3-4 days now.

If I were you I would demand the light if her levels are still high. To me, 5 weeks seems like a really long time. I cannot believe they haven't done anything about it yet.

My doctor told us, when his levels were 14, that if it got to 20 it would give him brain damage. He didn't say anything about if he had it for a longer time though. You should ask your doctor about the time length for having it.

Hope it gets better. Keep us informed!

 

[ab2401]

See the thing that sucks is Rylee eats every 2 1/2 -3 hours and shes taking 3oz.... but shes not pooping... she will go maybe once a day if not that once every two days. The stupid Doc. says "Its normal!" So the only thing bringing her levels down is the sun.... which I have been doing, when its not raining.

Time before last we went in there and they wanted to re-test her I told them that if it even went up .1 I wanted a light! She said " No, you dont get a light unless it goes over 15"

I have called them three times for her results, and they just keep saying that haven't gotten them yet, but thats BS because I know the hospital has them with in one hour after testing.

I'm going to start looking for a new pediatrician, tomorrow.

I know her levels arnt high enough to do brain damange but I'm wondering if low levels for a long time will.... I mean its the red blood cells and we all know they travel to the brain....

Yeah its mostly right as she falling asleep, but sometimes its when shes just chillin out looking around. I swear! if she has and brain damage cause by the jaundice.... that doctor will have her world come down on her really fast because if she would have just given me a damn light when she hit 14 this would all be over with.

If it was up to me babies levels wouldn't make it over 5 before I started handing out light... its not like insurance will not pay for them.

 

[marley2580]

Get her out and about in the sunshine. And find a new doctor.

The rolling of the eyes is pretty normal as far as I know, they're still learning to control them.

 

[sweetsammi]

I'm sorry to hear this. It does seem quite unusual for a baby to still be jaundice after that age. Oliver had it quite bad. When he was 2weeks my MW was worried cus he seemed to be getting worse and she said if he didnt improve by the end of week 3 he would need a liver function test.But he was fine by 3weeks, just gradually dissappeared. So i dont think the doctors right in leaving Rylee that long at all. You are within your rights to seek a second opinion and i certainly would! Try not to worry hun-Easier said than done i'm sure. Make sure you put your foot down, i know docs can have a habit of blowing young first time parents away-But your her mum, you know your little girl better than anyone. I hope she gets better soon, good luck x

 

[ab2401]

Well her doctor just called back (7 days later) and her levels are down to 3 so they no longer want to have her tested. I'm happy that they are down and she doesn't have to be poked anymore, although I'm still kinda worried about the fact that we will never know if they go down all the way,stay or go higher.

I'm sure they will go down.


I'm still looking for a new doctor though, I really don't like that one, it should have never taken 7 days to get results back.
but oh well for now its over with.

 

[sweetsammi]

Glad she's ok! x

 

[Kina]

Re the eye rolling thing - Alex did it for weeks. Even at his 6 week check he wasn't really focusing on anything. I remember being really concerned he had sight problems. He was also jaundiced for a while, I don't remember exactly how long but I'm sure it was a couple weeks. He looks like a little simpson in some pics lol I don't know what his levels were as they don't seem to test for those things over here I guess unless they're seriously jaundiced, but he was definately tanned lol

 

[sophie]

Glad the levels are down, Rio was jaundiced for a little while but nothing serious, but her dad had it as a baby really bad, he had to go on the little sunbeds!
Rio's eyes used to rol back but i thought it was cos she had wind? xx

 

[ColtonsMom]

Glad her levels went down!! With Colton's jaundice tests we only had to wait 20-30 minutes. They had us stay at the hospital while the results came back!! So, 7 days?!! That is crazy!! I would probably look for a new pediatrician if I were you aswell.
Colton isn't as old as your daughter, but his eyes still roll around. He will focus them on us for alittle while, or on the TV , but they still roll around most of the time. He has even been crossing them lately, which makes me nervous.

 

[ab2401]

well I don't know why her eyes really roll back like that, I guess its normal just kinda scary looking.

 

[Jenny]

Yay! happy to hear her levels are down!