better & adventures

the doc called yesterday to tell us that Trent's biliruben level dropped once again, which is great! She said we could discontinue the use of the blanket but she wanted Trent to go to the lab today to get one last blood test done. That meant I would be venturing out of the house for the firs time with just Trent and of all things I woke with this morning and it was snowing! Luckily we didnt have a set time to be at the lab, we just had to be there sometime in the morning. We took our time getting ready and headed out. The drive and everything went just fine; the roads werent slippery at all and the snow was tapering off. The blood work consists of the technician pricking Trent's heel and collecting his blood in a little vile. Trent took todays prick like a champ, he barely flinched! I was so proud. Afterwards we stopped by to see daddy. Kevin works in the same lot as the lab so it seemed silly to go home without stopping by first. Kevin was able to show off his new son to a few of his coworkers but because of the cold weather all they got to see was Trents face. I had his body and head all bundled up. Afterwards I decided to swing by my moms work to surprise her with a little visit but she didnt answer her phone so we didnt get to see her.

Now im sitting here with Trent sleeping in my arm and I got the call from the doctor with todays blood work results. The biliruben level dropped once again and Trent is in the clear. What a weight off my shoulders!

glow worm

while in the hospital Trent was a little yellow. They tested his biliruben count a few times to see if he had jaundice but his levels were almost always good. There was one night when his levels were a little high but by the morning they were back down to normal. We came home mid-day on Thursday and didnt see our pediatrician until Monday and in those few days his numbers jumped pretty high - and of course his skin became more yellow. The dr had a billi blanket delivered to our house that we had to keep on Trents back for 23 out of 24 hours a day. The blanket is attached to this short cord that is attached to this machine that gets plugged into the wall - Im sure you can imagine how big a pain that was as we were unable to move trent around much. The cords only let us go so far. The blanket had to be directly on his back so when we would wrap him up in his other blankets he looked like a little glow worm (I should mention the billi blanket had a bright green glow). In an attempt to flush the jaundice from Trents system we were told to feed him every 2 hours which we found to be pretty difficult at times. Sometimes he just wasnt hungry and didnt want to eat - it was like we were force feeding him. I didnt like it! The dr also ordered a nurse to come to our house very morning for the past 3 mornings to take his blood, weigh him, etc. It was sooo nice having the nurse come to me rather than me having to take him to the lab everyday! Not to mention I was able to ask her all my questions and I got to see for myself that Trent was gaining weight. As a new mom I worry about everything and I feel like im doing everthing wrong. Having her here reassured me and gave me the added confidence I needed. Fortunately his biliruben count has been dropping everyday - so much so that the dr informed us yestersay that this morning would be the end of his blanket treatment and this morning was also the last visit from the nurse. Within the next few hours I should hear from my dr with Trents latest score. We're all assuming it will be lower today than yesterday and in the normal range but if for some reason its not we'll have to put him back on the blanket and the nurse will be back tomorrow morning. Luckily jaundice isnt painful for Trent and it really isnt a big deal in the grand scheme of things - if jaundice is our only problem then we're doing GOOD!

On a more positive note Trent gained 1oz from Mon-Tues. 2oz from Tues-Wedn. and 2oz from Wedn-Thurs. The average weight gain is 1/2oz a day, so we're doing really well. We're only 1oz away from his birth weight! The nurse thinks he's going to be a big boy....we'll see.

Last night I was able to have a little alone time. Kevin watched Trent while I went shopping. Sure, i went to babies r us and thought about trent the whole time but it was nice to get out of the house and have a little time to myself.