Our Breastfeeding Journey, Part 1 - Jaundice, Supplementing, Tongue Tie Revision

I wish I would've been able to keep up with the blog to track our breastfeeding journey. Through early struggles, a tongue tie, pumping at work - I did manage to breastfeed until my son was 14 months old. I'll try to write a summary!

Jaundice
The first month was tough with Baby C having jaundice. We began supplementing with formula right away and I started pumping right away. Not what I had planned. The first month was difficult, where I would try and nurse, then supplement with formula, then pump - to keep my supply up. Very little sleep during that time.

Nipple Shield
When he hit one month, my pediatrician finally gave the green light to stop supplementing and exclusively breast feed (EBF). Then the next issue came, trying to get off the nipple shield. The nipple shield worked great for the beginning, as my baby had a horrible latch. It took about one week of purposefully trying to get him off of the nipple shield before he would latch on his own.

Thrush
I thought we were getting the hang of breastfeeding, when all of a sudden I had a lot of pain. My pediatrician told me it was thrush. Thrush it it's own monster... both of us had to get on meds for it. Couldn't use breast pads for very long, had to wash bras constantly. It was a mess. I decided to go to a lactation consultant (LC) at that time.

Lip and Tongue Tie
Turns out... it wasn't thrush. My baby had a lip and tongue tie. Which EVERYONE missed. I had gone to a breastfeeding support group and the LC there missed the ties. The hospital LC missed the ties. My pediatrician missed the ties. After I had gone back to work, he got his tongue tie revision at 3.5 months old. Which, kinda sucked because he had just started sleeping for longer stretches of time and I had to wake him up every 4 hours to do tongue stretches. It was also VERY hard to have him go through the procedure, I cried when they took him away and cried when he came back crying. It was quick and fast... but it just sucked big time.

His latch did get better. I'm not sure if it was because of his tongue tie revision or just because he got older and more efficient? However, it did push back his sleep patterns and he wouldn't start sleeping through the night until closer to 6 months old.

I would say by 4 months old, I felt like breastfeeding was going extremely well. I had a bit of an oversupply, but I was happy to have that extra in my freezer (which I would eventually use when my supply started to go down!).

I'll write another entry on pumping and nursing an older infant (Biting and niplash!).

Family of 3 Happenings

It’s been so long since I’ve posted. My main obstacle with posting is that I used to use a Blogger App on my iPhone - which is no longer available. I hardly go on my computer and it’s hard to post in the web browser on my iPhone. I also have very little time to write! 

Life has been extremely busy. It sounds so cliche to say that, but it really has been. The 2017 holidays were a whirlwind of activities and I thought it would lighten up after the New Year, but it really hasn’t. I think this is just the new “normal” - busy, lots to do, little time, endless To-Do list, constant motion, never a dull moment. 

Since I last wrote, my oldest turned 4 and my youngest turned 1! I’m still breastfeeding, which I’m totally amazed that I’ve managed to do for so long. My oldest is in his last year of daycare (Pre-K) before he starts Kinder in 2019, my youngest just transitioned to the 1 year old toddler room. For me, my work life has gone up a few notches. I am now the manager of my group, which comes with its own challenges & more time commitments. 

There is so much I want to write about and share. But realistically, I’m not sure that I’m going to be able to maintain the Blog! I’ve gone back and forth on whether to archive it or not. I haven’t made a hard-line decision yet. 

But in New happenings... I am looking to try for #3... so, I may need a place to share my thoughts as I contemplate going through fertility treatments again. My main obstacle on TTC is that my son does not want to wean! I need to stop breastfeeding before I can do fertility treatments. I was meant to try in June... but obviously that hasn’t happened! If I can wean him, it’ll be more like Sept/Oct egg retrieval. 

Lots going on and so much growth for our little Family of Three. Hoping to find the motivation to write and post about our lives. I think it would be good to share some of my parenting challenges and some of the sweet moments as well. Being a single mom isn’t easy, it’s definitely exhausting, but it’s also the most amazing experience being the Mom to my boys. 

Hopefully more to come! 

Our 2nd “Family Day”

My son’s 2nd adoption anniversary is this month. It’s so weird that he has only been my “legal” son for 2 years. It’s almost easy to forget how uncertain things were while I was fostering him and how I lived in fear that something would happen and CPS would take him from me. Now, he’s almost 4 and he has such a personality. He’s also starting to understand “adoption” a little more. 

I know there’s so much controversy on celebrating Adoption Days. I don’t really look at is as “celebrating,” I look at it more like “remembering”... talking about how we became a family & reflecting on it. I think as my son gets older that he will have more say in how and what we do to “commemorate” our adoption. 

I actually don’t call it “adoption day” or “gotcha day.” I don’t really like those phrases. I refer to it as our “Family Day.” Now that baby boy has arrived, I’m planning to integrate both of their stories in our “family day” tradition. We have a unique situation where one Child is adopted and one Child is donor conceived through IVF. I think I only know (virtually) one other person that has a similar situation as me. 

Technically, I can let Family Day slide and not do anything... but for me, it took a lot to build my family - it’s been a long journey for me. My boys don’t know anything more than just being in our family. But it’s important for me that they both grow up knowing their stories & how they came to be here, in our family. For my older son, that he knows his birth story and how he came into foster care. For my baby boy, for him to know he was donor conceived. Both of their stories have love and loss, but it’s their stories, their beginnings. It doesn’t define them, but it’s a part of them. As their mother, I feel it’s my responsibility to provide them with their stories. What they do with it as they get older and how they feel about it, will ultimately be up to them. Whether my son decides to get in contact with his birth family will be up to him. Whether my son decides to contact his donor will be up to him. 

Now, I’m not shoving it down their throats!! But I do want my boys to become comfortable with the terms and verbiage of their births. Adoption is not a bad thing. Donor conceived is not a bad thing. It’s our family’s story. But most importantly, our family story is rooted in love. 

I watched the 6 minute adoption video from my son’s adoption hearing. I can’t watch that video without crying...!!! It’s kind of a funny video because the hearing was during nap time and my son was throwing his toys, laughing, trying to run everywhere, and being all 2 year old “him.” I was trying to contain him, keep him entertained, and answer the questions from the lawyers — at the same time. It’s really fun to watch. Even today, almost 2 years later - I can’t believe how lucky I am to have been chosen to be his Mama. 

When I talk to my son, I tell him that God brought us together to make us a family. Now, my son repeats that phrase to me and he’s started including baby brother, “and God brought baby brother too.” :) I find it funny because when I ask him who’s apart of our family, he says “Mama, baby brother, me, Suki (our dog), our house, our car.” 

I’m sure this new tradition of celebrating our Family Day will change and merge and evolve. This year, this is what we are doing: 

1. I FINALLY finished my son’s adoption book!!!! I’m going to give it to him and read it to him. I made a photo book that has pictures of his birth parents and his time in foster care all the way through our adoption day. As the years go on, I’m planning to add to it. Add more age appropriate verbiage. Add more pictures. Add a family tree, as he has two! 
2. Bake a cake or brownies together. Light candles, kinda like a “prayer” for: his birth family, our forever family, all those that help foster children (judges, social workers, GAL’s, foster agencies, etc.), all the foster children to find permanency, & baby brother’s donor family. 

Eventually, we will add baby brother’s story to the “reading” of how we became a family. I need to make it first!!! (I’m so behind on photo books!). Right now, I plan for each to have their “own” books. But one day, I think it might be nice to have a “combined” book that we read that includes some of my story on fostering and going through fertility treatments. 

I also would like to volunteer on National Adoption Day with the boys, when they’re older. 

One thing I will be doing this year is “adopt a child.” My company works with a local shelter to help provide a “wish list” for Christmas. It’s actually the same shelter my foster agency works with, so it’s near to my heart as one of my foster Kids came from the shelter. This year, I’m going to “adopt a child” and have my son help me pick things for him/her. I’m going to talk about foster care and giving.... try to make it an annual thing. 

As our 2 year adoption-versary is just a few days away... I feel so grateful for our little family. For my boys. I pray that I do right by them and set them up to be kind & happy men. 

... and that I don’t screw them up! Lol ;) 

Wow, time is flying -- Thinking about Baby #3

I had my Women's Wellness visit today and was able to meet with my OB. My OB is pregnant! What I didn't know when I was pregnant is that she went through IVF for her first and used the RE that I have a consult with next month. She was surprised when she got pregnant "the old fashioned" way with her current pregnancy, as she suffered from infertility when trying for her first and was gearing up to do IVF again. Very happy for her!

To be honest about everything, every since I was pregnant I had contemplated whether I would try for a third. It's been on my mind a lot. Mostly because I knew that I would have to go through another IVF retrieval if I attempted again... and I knew the timing would be really tight due to my fertility issues. 

Well, I spoke to my OB about "when can I try again?" She said it's best to wait 18 months to let your body recover 100% from birth. We also talked a bit about my diabetes. 

Here's the deal with my diabetes. It was 100% controlled without meds prior to starting fertility treatments. When I started fertility treatments, my diabetes started to get a little wonky, so we added Metformin. As you know, once I was pregnant my diabetes just got crazy hard to manage and I was on insulin my entire pregnancy. Now that I'm nursing, my glucose levels are still wonky - which I guess is "expected" and should regulate back to normal after I stop nursing. I have a new endocrinologist that I'm working with to monitor my diabetes post-pregnancy. 

Here's the timeline of things and the steps I'm taking: 

1. RE Consult. I have an RE Consult for IVF in December. It's all about the timing. Timing for weaning my baby, timing for when I could do new fertility workups, timing on when I could do another IVF cycle, timing on when I would be able to do a FET. 
2. MFM Pre-Conception Consult. I am going to schedule an appointment with my much loved MFM! My OB suggested it. But I want to meet with her to discuss what I should do prior to pregnancy (ideal glucose levels, etc.). I'm hoping to get this scheduled in December as well. 

The "real" reason I'm trying to get all these appointments done in 2017 is that I've already met my max out of pocket with my insurance! So, it won't cost me anything. It'll also give me a better understanding of next steps I'll need to take IF I decide to move forward with IVF and try for Baby #3. 

Ok, so am I crazy for wanting to try for a third???????? I just might be! I love our little family with my boys. I'm not 100% sold on trying for a third... I've been going back and forth on it. I've also been considering foster/adopt as well... as my heart longs to foster and adopt again. 

Nothing is set in stone, it's all just trying to look into what it would look like. What I'm trying to do is imagine our family 10 years from now -- 15 years from now -- and 20 years from now, and what I hope that looks like. It's easy to say "No more kids!" when dealing with sleep deprivation or after giving birth or dealing with toddler-tudes. But that's such a short time period and God willing, there will be many years to come and so much more life to live. 

Right now, just dipping my toes in the "What this would look like" IF I try again. I'm hoping to get some clarity on all this after I meet with my RE and MFM. 

I also have some more goals IF I were to move forward: 

1. Lose weight. 
2. Start eating healthier. 
3. Get my glucose under control. 
4. Save money for IVF. 

Time will tell where this road will take me. 

My Postpartum Experience

Prior to giving birth, I read and read and read about postpartum care. I even attended birthing class that went over it in detail. But nothing, absolutely nothing, can really prepare you for what your body goes through and how you feel after giving birth. 

I’m a few months out from it and I admit, a lot of it is hazy now. After giving birth, you hurt/sore - you’re sleep deprived - there’s just a lot happening. For me, it was the balance of taking care of my newborn with jaundice, caring for my preschooler, taking care of my dog, & just trying to maintain my household. All of this while dealing with my healing postpartum body. Not easy, but not impossible! In hindsight, I think I did too much too soon and should’ve gave my body more time to heal. Overall though, I think postpartum went relatively smoothly for me. 

Weird Stuff 

The thing that was the hardest was having all the blood/discharge - official word is “lochia.” It was like a waterfall falling out of your vagina, no kidding. There was absolutely no way to control it. Every single time I stood up, it would go flowing. I had to go to the bathroom every hour, on the hour, to avoid soiling myself. I admit, there were a few times that I missed my window of opportunity and the lochia got all over the bathroom floor. So - so gross, & it sucked having to clean it up! Yuck. 

Pre-baby, I thought I would breastfeed him in bed. That didn’t happen in the beginning. Breastfeeding actually triggered my body to have free flowing lochia! If I was laying down, it would get everywhere - even if I was wearing a pad. So each time I had to feed the baby, I had to get out of bed and sit on the couch. Very difficult postpartum to accomplish at times! Also, I had to make sure I went to the bathroom before feeding baby at night, because once I got up — the waterfall hit. My routine: 

• Baby starts to cry
• I stumble out of bed in a sleep-deprived haze to the bathroom before it leaked everywhere
• Baby continues to cry, waiting for me to be done, try to hurry -- though sometimes the waterfall seemed to last forever 
• Pick up baby 
• Sit on the couch for 30-40 minutes nursing baby — trying to sit "tall" so the lochia wouldn’t leak out the back
• After I put the baby down, I would go to the bathroom again. 
• Repeat about every 2 hours

Lol, fun times for sure. I did put a pad (the blue/white ones they have in the hospital) on my bed when I slept, so that I wouldn’t get any blood on my sheets/mattress. That helped a ton. Not to mention, it’s a bit hard to walk at first. So "rushing" to try and do something, was really like going in super slow motion. Everything just hurts... it got better about a month postpartum for me.

My postpartum bleeding was weird. It really subsided within a week and I thought, "oh that's it?" Then in week two, it picked up and I bled for a few more weeks after that. I can’t remember exactly when the bleeding stopped? Within 8 weeks for sure, but I would guess closer to 6 weeks. I did spot randomly at the end of it and couldn’t predict when that would happen so I wore a pad everyday. 

Peri Care 

They really emphasize peri care, now I know why! My favorite peri Care items: 

• Peri bottle: the hospital gives you a peri bottle, but I needed one for my downstairs bathroom. I got this one and loved it & still use it! Fridababy Fridet, The MomWasher 
• Dermoplast: this stuff feels amazing postpartum! I had to get some extras because I ran out of what the hospital gave me. Dermoplast Pain Relieving Spray-2.75 Oz 
• Witch Hazel pads: these are the best thing ever invented and work great postpartum! I absolutely loved these. It was like sweet relief. BIRCHWOOD LABORATORIES A-E-R Pre-Moistened Witch Hazel Pads, 80 Count 
• Pads: I was able to bring some home from the hospital. But I found these and they were perfect for postpartum when I ran out of the ones the hospital gave me. Always Maxi Overnight Extra Heavy Flow With Wings, Unscented Pads 20 Count (Pack of 2). Some people suggest using adult Depends... but I didn't find it necessary, these were sufficient. 

I had two small tears from giving birth that took a long time to heal. My OB said it probably took longer because of my diabetes and my sugars fluctuating from nursing and postpartum hormone changes. But what I learned is: DO NOT WIPE!! E-V-E-R. Just pat very-very gently. One time I forgot... and ouch! They teach you how to do everything in the hospital right after you give birth. But basically: do your business, use peri bottle to wash, pat gently, spray generously with the dermoplast - like EVERYWHERE, apply new pad, add witch hazel pads, and done. 

I bought some cheap granny panties at Walmart that I used postpartum. Worked perfect, I just went one size bigger than normal and that held the pads in place. 

So... just to be transparent... I don’t think my lady parts felt back to normal until maybe 3-4 months postpartum. I had two issues postpartum: 1) I had a big blood clot 3 weeks postpartum. They say that if it's the size of a golf ball, then you worry. Well, I had one. When I went to the OB, she was like "don't worry about it." Hmm... 2) I was having MAJOR pain every single time I peed about 6 weeks postpartum. I didn't have a UTI. Turns out that I got another small tear by my urethra. OB said it was due to my low estrogen from breastfeeding. I wondered if it was related to the catheter they put in for the birth? But whatever it was, it hurt like hell. OB gave me estrogen cream to apply to the area. It stopped hurting after about 3 weeks of applying the cream. 

Today, I still have issues with being able to “hold” my pee. When I have to go, I need to go “right now!” And not wait. Who has time for Kegels? I won’t even mention the difficultly in going poop after giving birth... but let’s just say it's not fun and it's a bit traumatic! No joke. Like "hold on for dear life" hurts. I think I didn't get "regular" again until maybe 2.5 months postpartum. 

Postpartum Depression (PPD)

I wrote a bit during my pregnancy about experiencing prenatal depression (AKA antenatal depression) here.I thought for sure I would get PPD. Also, considering how stressful things were with my mother (more to come on this) & just how scary it was when my baby had low blood sugars / jaundice (entry here), not to mention just trying to keep my household afloat and care for my Little Guy.

Surprisingly, and thankfully, I had absolutely no PPD. I was emotional at times, yes. But mostly from being grateful I had my little family. Emotional with happiness :) After I gave birth, the prenatal depression basically went away and I was in a “take care of my Kids and figure it out” mode. More problem solving mode than stressed mode, of that makes sense. Even when things were stressful, it wasn’t PPD level, just normal single-new-baby-Mama-sleep-deprived stuff. 

Maternity Clothes 

What’s interesting is I lost all my pregnancy weight within the first week of giving birth. I’m sure I wrote about this sometime before — but I had gained 20 lbs during the 2 years I was TTC. So, I’m no where near where I “should” be ultimately. But honestly, I’m not too concerned about it. It might sound weird, but I think I’m more happy with my body now than I ever was before. My body was able to carry my baby boy & now my body is able to nourish him through breastfeeding (I’ve experienced challenges - but that’ll be a different post). 

I’ve never been a size 2 at my skinniest! And I don’t expect I will ever be in my lifetime. I do have goals I want to reach with my health, that I’m going to start focusing on one day! But right now, I’m fine with my postpartum body. I do still wear some maternity pants!!! They’re just so super comfy. Lol. I also think all my fretting over finding clothes to fit during my pregnancy that would also work for nursing, turned out pretty good! Almost all the clothes I bought in my third trimester are working perfectly for nursing. So yay for multi-use clothes and not wasting money. 

I’m also able to wear some pre-maternity clothing again! Some work for nursing, so that’s nice. But honestly, I prefer the clothing I used during pregnancy. Just super comfy and functional for nursing. Technically, I could wear all my pre-pregnancy clothing, but not all of them work for nursing or pumping. 

Energy 

I remember when I finally felt back to my pre-pregnancy “normal.” If you’ve read my blog while I was pregnant, I was extremely fatigued throughout my entire pregnancy. I was tired (still am!) and my energy levels were at the lowest they’ve ever been and that I've ever experienced in my entire life. I was just so drained all the time. At a little past 2 months postpartum, I started to feel normal again! I had more energy and I was motivated to do more, which was super nice! Even though I was sleep deprived, I felt like "myself" again. 

That is what I remember right now about postpartum and that comes top-of-mind. As I mentioned, a lot is a bit hazy. I wish I had the time/energy to have documented it on-the-go. But considering I haven’t even had time to write a blog post until now, I know in reality, it just wasn’t possible. 

I’m almost five months postpartum now and looking back, it all seems like it went relatively smoothly! I have a long list of topics I want to write about, so hopefully I'll find the time/energy to post more. 

Still here!

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged! I didn’t anticipate stopping, but can you believe how busy life can be with an active preschooler and a newborn?

It’s been so long since I’ve last posted, that I wasn’t sure if I would continue the blog or not. Just recently I decided that I would like to try and keep up with the Blog because I do enjoy writing! I need something that is an outlet for me. So even if I don’t post frequently, I do want to try and post as much as my life allows. 

Now the tough part! Where to begin to update since my hiatus???? It feels like so much has  happened. I think I’ll need to post about some back topics, as time permits. But just to get up-to-speed with things I hope to write more about in detail later: 

1. My baby is now 20 weeks old! And he is truly a blessing and such a sweet baby. 
2. I went back to work after Labor Day & to be honest — it’s been really tough balancing everything. I miss my baby so darn much.
3. I’m still breastfeeding, after so many challenges! 
4. I’m running into huge challenges with my Little Guy’s behaviors at daycare/preschool, that I’ll have to write about separately.
5. I’ve decided to disengage and separate from my mother after her disastrous visit during my baby’s birth.  
6. I’ve been contemplating having a third baby...! Lol, I might just be a bit crazy. Will have to post on that separately as well to weigh the pros and cons. 

Overall, life is joyful and life is good. It is also extremely busy! My calendar sometimes feels like a jigsaw puzzle. I thought my foster parenting schedule was crazy, but right now this just tops the charts. 

But... I’m happy. I’m grateful. I’m tired! Lol. But I love my boys more than anything and I love our little family. 

More to come! 

Low Blood Sugars and Jaundice

The first week of baby boy's life was pretty rough. So many things didn't go as expected and it was a struggle being sleep deprived, recovering from the birth, and feeling conflicted.

Low Blood Sugars

I knew going into the birth that baby boy might experience low blood sugars... but knowing it might happen and then having it happen -- totally different things. He had to pass 3 blood sugar checks. He passed the first one. The second one, it got lower. Then the third one, it was too low. On his first day of life, he was born at 4:33am and by 11:30am, they took him to the nursery.

It was hard because that meant I didn't have him with me in my room... I also happen to be in the furthest room from the nursery!

When they took him, I decided I would try and get a few hours of sleep. I managed to sleep maybe 2 hours or so? Then I just needed to see him. It was still hard for me to walk, so a nurse wheeled me over to the nursery. When I saw him for the first time in the nursery, I just started to cry. I didn't realize that they'd have to hook him up to an IV and have fluids dripping. Seeing him hooked up to all those monitors still makes me cry today just thinking about it. They also had to poke his foot to check his blood sugars every few hours. It was just heartbreaking. They also started supplementing him with formula to try and get his blood sugars up... since my milk wasn't in yet. He wasn't in his own room, he was in a big room where there were other babies being taken care of. So, I couldn't stay in there 24/7 with him.

The routine went like this:

• Visit baby boy 
• Try to breast feed him 
• Give him formula 
• Pump afterward for 30 minutes 
• Go back to my room and try to sleep 
• Get up and repeat every 3 hours. 

The nurses actually tried to encourage me to skip one of the visits at night time so I can rest... I took them up on that, but I don't think I really "rested" -- I couldn't really sleep being away from him and with all the peri care -- it made it hard to rest more than a few hours, if that. 

On Day #2 of his little life, they did the 24 hour newborn testing on him and it turns out he had jaundice. Once his bili levels were high, they immediately put him under the jaundice lights. After that happened, they would only let me take him off to feed for 30 minutes at a time -- no longer -- every 3 hours. Before, I would be able to breast feed as long as I wanted and I could snuggle with him and do skin-to-skin. I would be int here for about an hour or more at a time. Now, he could only get off the lights for 30 minutes. Jaundice would eventually turn into its own little nightmare. I'll get to that a little later. 

His blood sugars seemed to get regulated and they started weaning him off the IV fluids a little at a time to see if he could maintain them on his own. Eventually by the morning of Day #3, he was 100% weaned from the IV fluids and they were able to remove the IV from his little hand. This was good news! 

Jaundice 

There was a big question mark if baby boy would be released from the hospital with me or if he would have to stay. I was getting released on Day #3 after birth. The said his bili levels were good and they were going to take him off the lights and then retest him. If his levels remained low, he could go home. If they went back up, he'd have to stay. So, the morning of Day #3 -- I was able to take him back to the room with me with NO tubes attached to him. 

It was so wonderful to have him in my arms and have him not attached to anything... I was getting discharged that afternoon and just hoping I'd be able to bring him with me... I would cry just thinking of not being able to bring him home with me. Well, they did his bili test and they said it was fine to bring him home (Yay!), but that I would need to bring him to the pediatrician the next day to recheck his bili levels. 

Day #4, I brought him to the pediatrician in the morning. She said he didn't look bad and that she thought it would come back fine. Then I received a call at 3pm and the levels were NOT fine. They were REALLY high. So high in fact, that baby boy had to be readmitted to the hospital. 

I was scared. I was devastated. We had just ONE night at home and now I would have to leave him in the hospital... and not to mention time away from my Little Guy... But I'll get to that in a different entry. 

Baby Boy got admitted to a children's hospital, different than the hospital I delivered at and further away. I was so heartbroken originally thinking that he'd be so far from me and not knowing how I was going to manage visiting him and leaving him alone for so long. 

When I got to the hospital, turns out that I could stay in-room with him!!! I didn't know this, since I hadn't been to that hospital before. I made arrangements for Little Guy to stay with his god mother and then I went home to pack up some clothes for me. At this point, there was no way to know how long he would be in the hospital. They re-took his bili levels and his levels went UP again!! Really high, only a few points away from the point of needing a transfusion... really scary stuff. 

They immediately put him back on the lights and I was able to stay in the room with him. My milk came in that day and I was actually able to pump and get something! 

We ended up staying in the hospital on Day #4, Day #5, and being discharged on Day #6. His bili levels looked good, but they still wanted me to get the pediatrician to look at him the following Monday. 

On the following Monday, Day #8, the pediatrician said he looked good and wasn't even going to check his bili levels. But I insisted that they check them, just to give me peace of mind. Plus, they were already doing his one-week newborn screening -- might as well do the extra test. Turns out -- his levels went back up AGAIN!!! But they weren't so far up to have to go back into the hospital. Instead, I got a bili blanket for home and I had to keep him wrapped in that all day. Same thing as the hospital -- only out of the blanket for 30 minutes at a time every 3 hours. 

We went to the pediatrician on Day #9 and Day #10 to check his bili levels. On Day #11 we were able to do a "trial run" and take him off the blanket for 24 hours and retest his bili levels again on Friday, Day #12, to see if they were stabilized or not. 

Finally we received good news -- his bili levels were finally stable. We could stop the bili blanket. 

He is still a little yellow... but at least his levels are stable. 

But I'm grateful that the jaundice and low blood sugar scares are behind us now. I don't think I became comfortable or felt things could start our new "normal" until these things were resolved. I was just so scared for him and worried that it meant something more. Luckily his newborn screening came back perfectly fine. So, nothing is wrong with baby boy. That was reassuring. We just had to let it pass. 

It was a tough first two weeks of life for my baby boy and tough postpartum start for me... More to come on postpartum stuff.