On Friday, the baby had an appointment with his doctor. Turns out his bilirubin level is higher than normal.
While we were at the appointment, I told the doctor that I was concerned about his coloring, so he had us go to the lab to get his blood drawn.
Later that day, we got an urgent call from the doctor himself. "The levels are pretty high! I'm ordering a bili-blanket to be delivered to you STAT. We have to take care of this..otherwise there is a chance of brain damage to occur. If your insurance doesn't cover the cost of renting the blanket, then you'll have to take him back to the hospital"
Ya, talk about freaking me the hell out!
Thirty minutes after that phone call, I get a call from the company that delivers the machine/blanket. She gets my info to check if my insurance covers it...thank goodness it did. Take a wild guess how much it would have cost us out of pocket to RENT the thing on a daily basis if we didn't have insurance? $975.50 PER DAY! crazy, huh?
A couple of hours later, the machine is delivered to us. I felt so bad looking at the baby strapped in the 'blanket' (it's just a strip of light that goes around his torso). He looked so tiny and uncomfortable. As much as I wanted to yank the thing off of him, I knew we needed to do whatever it is to get the bili level down as quickly as possible. We have to keep the 'blanket' on him ALL the time. We can take it off to feed, bathe or change a diaper, but otherwise, he must be strapped on it all day.
Around 8 pm, we got a call from the baby's doctor. He was calling after hours FROM HOME. He said something to the effect of- I can't go to sleep unless I know you guys received the bili-blanket. He then told us that he also personally called the company to have them contact/send the machine to us ASAP. He also told us that if he hadn't done that they were going to deliver the machine the next day!
Ahhh! I love the boys' pediatrician!
On Saturday, we went to the hospital to get the baby's levels checked again. It was still pretty high, but not enough for him to be admitted.....so, we've been continuing the treatments. We go back to the pedi on Monday to have them check the baby again.
Hopefully this time the bili level has gone down. Keep us in your prayers, please! It's been so hard for the lil guy to sleep with the light and the strip strapped to his person =(
5 comments:
oh I remember this. We had the bili blanket delivered to our house for Ryan. He was on it for 4 days! (thank goodness for insurance!) The longest 4 days ever! We had to go back to the doctor everyday to check his bilirubin. I will be praying and please know that I completly understand what you are going through. Keep us updated.
Aw, poor little guy :(
I know exactly how you feel. Kehau was the same way. We didn't need the blanket because her levels came down the next day, but just the thought of brain damage because levels were high is scary. YOU KNOW YOU ALWAYS HAVE YOU GUYS IN THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS!!! Keep informed.
poor baby! I hope his levels get back to normal soon.
I feel your pain. They kept L in the NICU longer because of jaundice and we still had to take a biliblanket home. I hated that thing! I'm sure your little guy will be just fine in a few days :)
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