Emmaus’ homecoming postponed
It’s been a busy day with lots of ups and downs. Just like yesterday, we started to pack up to go home when everything changed. They noticed that his body was beginning to look quite jaundiced. This is fairly common in babies after the first few days but not in the first 24 hours. Jaundice appearing in the first day is usually an indicator of something else wrong. They mentioned three potential causes, the first being the bad bruising on his face. The second idea was an rh- problem, and the last was a group B strep infection. They were going to just do light therapy in Walkerton for a few hours but it was discovered that his biliruben levels were continuing to go up very rapidly. After a quick consult with a doctor in Owen Sound, it was decided that Emmaus would be transported to a bigger hospital for more intensive light therapy to be more closely monitored. Initially, Debra wasn’t allowed to ride in the ambulance but at the last minute they changed their mind. Maybe Debra’s tears helped. We all arrived at the new hospital around 4:30pm and he has been under the lights ever since (except to nurse). He has had countless blood tests and even has a little I.V. in his foot. His biliruben levels have kept on rising since our arrival but the doctor is very pleased that it was spotted so quickly. Kathleen and I are staying in a nearby hotel since I (Norm) am not aloud to stay at the hospital. Here are a few pictures of our poor little guy, like always, click through the link at the bottom for more..
On this day..
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Poor sweet precious boy. Debra {{hugs}} I am so glad you got to ride with him! I am praying for his levels to go down.
Simon and I just prayed for your sweet little man.
I’m so glad they caught it quickly. I cannot imagine not being able to ride in the ambulance with my new baby. They did the right thing by letting Debra go with him. It sounds like they are taking very good care of Emmaus but I know how hard it must be when you just want to take your baby home with you. I will pray that that can happen sooner rather than later. Happy Thanksgiving!
His biliruben levels have leveled off! They’ll slowly wean him off of the light therapy. The doctor is also quite certain that debra did pass on some rh- antibodies which is something we’ll have to very closely watch if we have another baby in the future.