New Pictures

I finally had a little time today to go through some of the pictures we've taken since we've been home from the hospital.

Proud big brother... Eli sure loves holding Lily.

Here is the light wrap that Lily had to wear to reduce the biliruben.

It glows and a flickers a fluorescent blue. It reminds me of the glow worm dolls from when I was a kid.

For 3 days we were corded to this unit. Lily went between the pack and play and the rocking chair, unless we took her off the lights to go to the hospital for a blood and weight check.

Lily is off the bililights

Lily had another blood test today and her biliruben level dropped a little again to 11.9. Even though the drop is small, it is a great sign that the biliruben level is dropping without the lights. If it stayed the same or increased we would have to continue with the light treatment. The doctor said we can stop the light treatment and wait until Monday to check her again. Robbie is so happy he gets a day break from holding Lily's foot so they can draw blood from her heel. I usually stand in the hallway with Eli. It's so hard to hear her cry. Lily's weight is up to 6lbs 14oz, up 2 oz from yesterday. She may even make it to 7 lbs on Monday.

Lily is improving

Lily is has gained an ounce, 6 lbs 12 oz, and her biliruben level has dropped to 12.1 (it peaked at 16.6). We have treated her at home with a special light wrap for about 30 hours. The light wrap circles her abdomen and the lights help to eliminate the biliruben. She has to wear the light wrap all the time. Feeding and burping are especially challenging because the wrap is so rigid. Now that her biliruben level is down, we get to take her off the lights until her blood test tomorrow morning. If it stays down she may be done with the light treatment. For now we are enjoying holding our cuddly baby girl without the light apparatus!

Lily's Health Update

Lily is jaundice and we are carefully watching her weight and biliruben levels. Jaundice is when there is too much biliruben in the blood. Biliruben is formed when the red blood cells break down. Lily's body is not able to get rid of the remains of the old red blood cells quick enough. We have to bring her into the hospital daily for a blood test and weight check. She was down to 6 lbs 11 oz when we left the hospital on Monday. Her bililevel is 14.8. At 15 she needs to have special light treatment at home. At 20 she will have to have light treatment at the hospital.

Introducing Lily

Lily Marie Nelson was born 8-8-08 at 8:15 am weighing 7 lbs 5 oz and was 20 1/2 inches. The scheduled c-section went very smoothly. The surgery staff was trying for a birth time of 8:08am, they were so close. Lily and I were both doing well health wise. Lily looked great as most c-section babies do. She looked so small compared to what Eli looked like at a birth weight of 9 lbs 1 oz. Lily has a little bit of dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. Eli was very interested in meeting his baby sister and even wanted to hold her right away, saying "oh, she's so cute".