Your postpartum experience begins the moment baby makes its entrance into the world!
I tried my best to prepare, but nothing completely prepares you for your unique postpartum experience. And I really wasn’t prepared for my new baby to journey through an experience with jaundice.
Some of the things I’ll talk about are not for the faint of heart, so my apologies in advance if you read on. But there are Mommas going through things with no one to talk to about it. So this is for these Mommas!
Here is what happened the first week after delivering my baby.
Day 1 Postpartum – Saturday
My baby boy was born at 11:52 am on Saturday, June 23rd, 2018.
He was placed on my chest for me to meet him for the first time, and it was so surreal. This little boy had been in my tummy for 9 whole months and to see him with my own two eyes was just so much to take in. I was so thankful!
They whisked him away to clean him up. I did panic a little inside because I didn’t hear him cry that loud baby cry you hear on tv shows. I remember saying out loud “is he okay, is he okay?”
He was in fact okay, he just had some fluid and mucus in his mouth that needed to be cleaned out. The umbilical cord also got wrapped around his neck on his way into the world, which was super scary. But after he was checked out everything was just fine, and he’s wonderfully healthy.
While they were getting baby together, my Doctor performed a small procedure to sew up my 2nd degree tear, which hurt like crazy! I could feel every. Single. Stitch. Phew! (I’ll talk more about my personal recovery in another post.)
After I was sewn up and cleaned up, the medical staff left the room and let me, my Husband and baby rest.
I fainted!!
A few hours later I needed to use the restroom. Because I’d just had my baby, the medical staff assisted me with walking to the restroom. I sat there for so long because I was so afraid to go after delivering my 8 lb baby! Lord that was so hard.
I finally did go, but then as soon as the nurse helped me up, everything went black and I fainted!
Yep, I fainted in the bathroom. It was so scary because I’ve never fainted before! Thank God the nurse was right there.
I was just woozy from the meds I was on during labor and also super exhausted. So the staff helped me up and assisted me. I made my way back to the bed and the rest of the day was pretty peaceful.
Lots of different staff members came in and out with questions including the lactation specialist and my baby’s doctor. Yep, not only do you have a doctor, now your baby has a doctor too!
We had a couple visits from our close family which was awesome, and we just took some time to rest.
Day 2 Postpartum – Sunday
Sunday was lots of feedings, diaper changes, and check-ins for me and baby. Baby had his hearing tested, his circumcision, and we got his birth certificate. We stayed one more day because his sugar levels were low. I was breastfeeding, but we had to supplement with formula to make sure he was getting enough to eat until his levels regulated. Since they were still monitoring my baby and I had a fainting spell, we stayed one more night under observation.
This was the day I really started appreciating the hospital Padsicles and numbing spray. The Padsicles were cocktailed by the nurses, and seeing one being handed to me was almost equivalent to seeing a steak on a platter! They made sure I was always set with one which was awesome. The padsicles were wet maxi pads that had been frozen, and then they’d put tucks pads on them and equip you with numbing spray.
Also the hospital disposable underwear were amazing! I did bring my own, but it was great to use those because things could be quite messy (sorry if this is gross but I want to be honest!). And this way my own undies were salvaged, at least for a while. I definitely asked for more disposable undies to take with me before we left the hospital.
Day 3 Postpartum – Monday
We found out our baby’s bilirubin levels were high which meant he had jaundice. Instead of keeping us there at the hospital another night, they released us to go home. They told us to bring him to his Doctor’s office the following day, Tuesday, for them to check his levels again. His doctor wanted to see if his bilirubin levels would lower on their own. If you want to know what bilirubin is, click here.
Jaundice in infants is actually quite common. As long as your Doctor makes sure baby’s levels get back to normal, he/she will be fine. I was so nervous because I had heard of jaundice but never knew what it was. And the thought of something being wrong with your new baby can be overwhelming. But I’m hoping through sharing my experience, you’ll see how we walked this out. It was a process and it took a few days, but we got through it!
So we checked out of the hospital and went home. Thankfully we were met with family who brought food and came to see our new baby. It was an awesome time and it was one of those days that makes you so thankful for family and friends.
Our first night home was adventurous and sleepless with our new baby. We were up every few hours feeding him and changing him, and then we had to be up early to go in to the Doctor’s office the next morning.
Day 4 Postpartum – Tuesday
My Husband and I took baby to his Pediatrician for him to check his bilirubin levels again. They pricked my little baby’s foot to take blood in order to do the test. His doctor called us that evening to tell us to bring him to the lab again on Wednesday to have his levels checked because they had gotten higher. He was still monitoring them to see if they’d go down.
Our Second day home was again much of the same. Feeding our baby, changing him and watching him sleep. And also praying that his bilirubin levels go down.
Day 5 Postpartum – Wednesday
Again, me and Hubby brought our baby straight to the lab this time, just to have baby’s bilirubin levels checked. They pricked my little baby’s foot so many times, it looked like war zone! I really wasn’t liking all the pokes on his tiny little feet!
A few hours later, his Doctor called and said his levels had gotten even higher so we needed to check him into the hospital. This time his Doctor sent us to a different hospital than where I delivered him. This particular hospital has a more advanced children’s department.
I hung up the phone from the doctor and now I was in tears. It was all so much! This was only our 3rd day home with our little one and we had to go and check him into the hospital! I had so many questions, and I just felt so helpless! I had just given birth and I was so tired, anxious, nervous and scared, not to mention, still in pain and sleep deprived!
I quickly packed a bag of personal items and did the same for our baby. I remember calling my Mom to tell her what was happening, and thankfully she calmed me down.
Back to the Hospital
God knew what he was doing because that hospital stay was such a breeze. We bypassed the entire check in process and walked straight to our room, thanks to my baby’s Doctor who pulled some strings for us.
My baby needed to stay under a UV light for 24 hours, undisturbed for phototherapy. This was so hard for me as a new Mommy! I couldn’t hold him and you can’t really disturb him in order for the phototherapy to work.
According to Cedars-Sinai.org “Bilirubin absorbs light. High bilirubin levels often decrease when a baby is put under special blue spectrum lights. This is called phototherapy. Your child may get this treatment in the day and night. It may take several hours for it to start working. During light treatment, your baby’s eye will be protected. Your baby’s healthcare provider will check your baby’s temperature. He or she will also test your baby’s bilirubin levels. This will tell if phototherapy is working.”
I was so glad me and Hubby got to stay with him in the room overnight. It sucked so bad because I couldn’t hold my baby for 24 hours! He had to stay under the light while we fed him and changed his diapers and everything. Newborns basically only do two things, sleep and eat! So he really didn’t do too much crying, thankfully.
It was important to feed baby on a schedule (newborns eat every 1-3 hours) and since I couldn’t nurse him, he had to take bottles. I wasn’t pumping a crazy amount of milk, so we did have to supplement with formula in order to feed him every 1-3 hours. We had to make sure he was eating enough every 3 hours in order to help his bilirubin levels to go down, and with bottles you see exactly how much he’s getting.
The Problem with Breastfeeding and Bilirubin Levels
Breastfeeding Moms are more likely to have jaundice babies because in the beginning sometimes we’re not making enough milk for baby. Baby needs enough milk in order to produce stool and urine, which in turn helps to excrete bilirubin from his intestines more efficiently.
In our case my baby wasn’t excreting enough of the bilirubin because he wasn’t getting enough milk from me.
Another thing to remember is the fact that newborns are just that, they are newly born! Their little bodies have to learn to process, digest and excrete food for the first time. And this can take a little time for their bodies to get adjusted to.
You can read more about hyperbilirubinemia here.
Since they knew I’d just given birth, the staff was super attentive, not only to the baby but to me and Hubby also. I was still learning to pump my milk (I couldn’t nurse my baby because he couldn’t leave the UV light), and a lactation consultant stopped by to see how I was doing with that. They even brought me a pump to use because I forgot to bring mine!
Day 6 Postpartum – Thursday
I was so happy to be able to just lay there and rest for a day because it had been nonstop for us since we’d left the first hospital! So all day Thursday I did nothing but rest, pump milk and watch our new baby under the UV light.
By Thursday evening baby’s levels were finally going down so they let us check out of the hospital and go home. I was so happy to hold my baby! That 24 hours was grueling for this new Momma, and the drive home was EVERYTHING. Both me and Hubby were so happy to finally be going home with our new baby.
Day 7 Postpartum – Friday
My baby’s Doctor had set up one more bilirubin test to make sure his levels were still going down. So we made one more treck to the Doctor’s lab to have his little feet poked one last time for another test. He told us no news was good news, so we knew the test came back all clear (although I still called to make sure). Thank goodness his levels were now normal, so he was all clear of the jaundice!
It was pretty challenging to get him to nurse again after taking so many bottles, but he caught on after about a week or so. We just kept having to supplement with formula (bottles) until he was used to nursing again. It’s important that babies are okay with taking bottles anyway, like if you ever want to leave baby with a caregiver in order to have some me time or a date night. But it’s something you just work through over time.
Finally Home
This entire process of my baby’s Jaundice was so scary to me as a new Mom. I didn’t know what jaundice was, or what it meant.
I didn’t expect to be back in a Doctor’s office 2 days after giving birth. Sitting on pillows in a waiting room because of my 2nd degree tearing. And I didn’t expect to be checked right back into the hospital two days after checking out from having my baby. I had just given birth to a new baby, still hadn’t begun the process of healing. And here my new baby has to heal too in his own way, just starting out in the world.
I don’t know why the hospital didn’t just keep us until his bilirubin levels went down, that would have been way less stress on my Husband and I. But that’s just not the way it went for us. I’m glad things still went smoothly, and there are still so many things I can be thankful for.
Our first week postpartum was literally a fog. I didn’t have much time for self-care, and I really hadn’t gotten a chance to begin the process of recovery yet. We were literally caring for our new baby and making sure he had a great start.
4 TIPS FOR YOUR FIRST WEEK POSTPARTUM
1. It’s okay to ask questions
Ask as many questions as you feel you need to, but also have faith in the medical staff that is caring for you. You’ll likely have lots of brain fog throughout the process of bringing a new life into the world, but medical professionals know this.
In my experience, everyone I encountered was very understanding. Things will happen so fast that you can’t really keep up, especially during labor. But it’s important to relax, believe and know you are in good hands. Medical professionals have studied for years something you’re experiencing for a few weeks! They know their stuff, and they know how to help you. Don’t micromanage the medical staff, but also make sure you are settled within yourself with how things are going. Follow peace.
2. Take it easy on yourself
Don’t be hard on yourself, you just accomplished something so amazing! You’ve just spent 9 months caring for and nurturing a life, ensuring that it had the best chances at being healthy. You took prenatal vitamins, watched your diet (as much as possible with cravings), stayed stress free so as not to put any stress on the baby. You are amazing!
3. It’s okay to cry
It’s okay to cry. This can be such an emotional process, and you already have tons of hormones in your body. It can all be overwhelming, and it will almost always feel better to have a cry and release some of those emotions. No, it doesn’t mean you’re depressed if you do cry. A crying spell does not equal postpartum depression.
4. This too shall pass, enjoy your new baby!
It’s all new! If you and baby got off to a rough start, this too shall pass! Try to enjoy this newness as much as you can, but it won’t be new for long! If you and baby got off to a smooth start, congrats I’m so happy for you! Relish every new moment with your baby.
If you’re in the middle of helping your new baby overcome jaundice, I hope this helps you feel not so alone in your journey.
If you’re still an expecting Momma, congrats!!! Keep taking care of yourself and baby. Come back and tell me how your first week postpartum went!
For more pregnancy info, check out these posts:
Eye Opening First Pregnancy Guide
I Can’t Control my Emotions! How to Relieve Pregnancy Hormone Symptoms
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