Life with Philo
Philo has been home about three days now. All in all, things have been good. Mike got to work from home on Friday so he was around to keep me company and to help out, and my mom and sister came to visit. My parents and my brother came again today, and on Monday we're having another visitor and then going to Mike's parents' house to visit. I'm grateful to have people around...on Tuesday I'll be home alone all day with Philo for the first time and I'm a little nervous about how it'll go. But I have to be alone with him for the day sometime, and I guess Tuesday is as good a day as any.
One thing that's been hard is dealing with Philo's jaundice. The jaundice makes him so sleepy that it's hard to wake him to feed. The lack of eating was making him lose weight (I know all newborns lose weight, but his lack of feeding wasn't helping that) and the lack of food meant he couldn't flush the bilirubin out of his system, which only made him more jaundiced. Jaundice in newborns is very common, but it's still been worrying. I've been feeding him every two or three hours, which means waking him up sometimes, and supplementing the breastfeeding with a bottle when he's alert enough to take it. The pediatrician said that his bilirubin levels would peak today and then go down, so hopefully this will be the worst it'll be.
Today we took our first outing as a family...we walked to Walgreens. Yes, my big Memorial Day trip was a walk to the pharmacy. It's a crazy life.
We buckled him into his stroller. He looked so small.
I covered him with a flannel blanket, a thick receiving blanket, and put a hat on him to keep the chill off. Once we began walking I realized that it was 65 degrees out and most people were wearing t-shirts. I folded the thick blanket down but still kept an eye on him.
After stopping at Walgreens we walked down Brady Street, which is a lively street with a lot of bars, restaurants, and shops. All in all we walked about a mile. I realized that it's the most I've walked since the delivery, and by the end I could feel pulling in the stitches that repaired my tear.
Philo slept through most of his first trip. Sorry, kid. Maybe we'll go somewhere more exciting next time.
Tomorrow is going to be a quiet day - a Law & Order marathon on cable, possibly a trip to church (or watching it on TV if it looks like Philo can't handle an hour at church). I know it's not exactly thrilling, but if Philo can start recovering from this jaundice I'll be more than ecstatic.
One thing that's been hard is dealing with Philo's jaundice. The jaundice makes him so sleepy that it's hard to wake him to feed. The lack of eating was making him lose weight (I know all newborns lose weight, but his lack of feeding wasn't helping that) and the lack of food meant he couldn't flush the bilirubin out of his system, which only made him more jaundiced. Jaundice in newborns is very common, but it's still been worrying. I've been feeding him every two or three hours, which means waking him up sometimes, and supplementing the breastfeeding with a bottle when he's alert enough to take it. The pediatrician said that his bilirubin levels would peak today and then go down, so hopefully this will be the worst it'll be.
Today we took our first outing as a family...we walked to Walgreens. Yes, my big Memorial Day trip was a walk to the pharmacy. It's a crazy life.
We buckled him into his stroller. He looked so small.
I covered him with a flannel blanket, a thick receiving blanket, and put a hat on him to keep the chill off. Once we began walking I realized that it was 65 degrees out and most people were wearing t-shirts. I folded the thick blanket down but still kept an eye on him.
After stopping at Walgreens we walked down Brady Street, which is a lively street with a lot of bars, restaurants, and shops. All in all we walked about a mile. I realized that it's the most I've walked since the delivery, and by the end I could feel pulling in the stitches that repaired my tear.
Philo slept through most of his first trip. Sorry, kid. Maybe we'll go somewhere more exciting next time.
Tomorrow is going to be a quiet day - a Law & Order marathon on cable, possibly a trip to church (or watching it on TV if it looks like Philo can't handle an hour at church). I know it's not exactly thrilling, but if Philo can start recovering from this jaundice I'll be more than ecstatic.
posted by Danulai at
6:39 PM
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4 Comments:
he's such a cutie!
congrats on going out.
if you have a sunny window, put philo on a blanket or something and put him in the sunshine. when babies in hospital have jaundice they use uv light to help break it down. sunshine does the same thing. the window should diffuse it enough that it'd not be harmful.
that's what my s-i-l did with her second baby to get out of hospital sooner :)
By
dykewife, At
7:48 PM
What a way to start with a 'family' outing!
He's a lady killer, that Philo ;)
Here's hoping he's less jaundiced and feeling better soon!!
By
GF, At
8:24 PM
Jaundice truly sucks but before you know it, it will be a distant memory. I remember the worry, but in the grand scheme of things it will be over in no time. I second dykewife. Our pedi told us to put Gabby in indirect sunlight (through a window) up to 20 min at a time. I don't know that it helped, but it was a suggestion. I'm hoping his numbers go down on his next bili check. Those heel pricks used to make me so sad.
By
Kathy, At
9:48 PM
Yay, Walgreens trip! ;-)
Have complete strangers come up to Philo to ogle him yet? That always creeped me out when my nieces were younger.
Does Philo have a middle name? Just curious!
By
kite, At
8:26 AM
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