He's here; we're home

A*idan T*homas arrived June 27, 2008 at 1:02 pm.

Length: 20 inches
Weight: 7 lbs, 9 oz

He was kept away from me for 5 full hours after delivery because he was born with fluid in his lungs (a problem common for c-section babies). Even after the fluid was removed, his respiration rate was very high (around 100 when the doctors wanted to see < 60). I was not allowed to see him, touch him, or feed him.

This sucked mightily. But we were reunited around 6 pm Friday night and all was well until Sunday, when AB's bilirubin level (12.7) suddenly placed him in the high risk category for pathologic jaundice. He went into an isolette in the NICU (at our hospital, the same as the nursery, and luckily for me, right across from my post-partum room) around noon on Sunday.

I was able to feed him every 3 hours, but he was only allowed out of the box for 30 minutes each time.

This again sucked mightily.

Monday morning, I fed AB at 6:30 am and went back to my room to wait for the results of the morning's bilirubin test. Our pediatrician came in around 8 am to tell me that amazingly, AB's level had gone down to 10.4. In his experience, he had never seen a baby with ABO incompatibility and jaundice turn things around so fast.

In other words, my baby is a rock star!!

AB was removed from the blue lights and we were both given the go-ahead for discharge, even though we technically could have stayed until Tuesday.

Knock on wood, breastfeeding is going well, sleep is going well, and AB is a seriously mellow baby.

KB is one very proud big brother. We are trying to let him help out as much as possible, and he really is a great helper.

Much more to say, but I should take advantage of this time to sleep. Will try to post again when I can.