We did not get a chance to get back on here last night to tell what was happening...we did not find out until 10 p.m. what her number was. The doctor wanted to keep her overnight to see what her next number would be, so we went home and to bed.
We were up again this morning to be here by 8 a.m., hoping to meet with the doctor and go home...no such luck. Emma's number is up another point, so they are putting her under the lights yet again. We will get another check of her blood at 10 p.m. tonight, then again at 6 a.m. tomorrow. At that point it will be up to the doctor again as to whether or not he will release her...though I expect they'll want to have her off the lights awhile before checking a number, then talk about discharging. So, it will be at least tomorrow, but we expect it to be more like tomorrow night or even Wednesday morning.
Our main struggle right now, besides the fact that we don't have her home, is trouble with feedings. We can only have her out from under the lights for 30 minutes every 3 hours. That puts a lot of pressure on her and me to feed properly. There are times that she won't latch on well, so she doesn't eat much. (A higher bilirubin level causes her to be sleepy, so that does not help with nursing.) This morning she did not latch on at all, probably because it had been so long since her last feeding,...she wanted instant gratification! I ended up having to express milk and bottle feed her...not a big deal except I don't have time to try to nurse her, and pump, then feed her when she's got to get back under the lights. She has to eat every three hours...sometimes just because she wakes up and is hungry...but mostly because eating helps her to produce stools and urine, which gets rid of the extra bilirubin, which will reduce that number. So, if you all could pray for Emma to eat well, to produce lots of urine and stools, and just to get well as quickly as possible. My parents are being great, Karl has been wonderful bringing me back and forth to the hospital and making sure I'm fed properly, but we're all tired and ready to just relax in our home with our new baby girl. I know she will be fine...her color is great right now, we just have to get her number to stop rising and come down once she's off the lights.
Another update will be coming either tonight or in the morning.
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