Yellow and Red Faces

We had a silly scare this afternoon.  I should have known when I called the pediatrician and they asked me if I was a first time mom!  I noticed this afternoon that the whites of Natalie’s eyes were yellow and that her poop had starting getting more yellow too.  When I looked at her skin, it looked like she was yellow from head to about waist then started looking pink from waist to toes.  I called the pediatrician and they wanted to see her right away.  Course, it was at 4:00 by the time I talked to them so the kids and I raced over to make it for the last appointment of the day.  Turns out it’s just breastfeeding jaundice and no big deal.  David ended up leaving work early cause we figured it would be serious.  Natalie practically slept through the whole fiasco!

We did ask about her seemingly hard time in passing poop when we were there  at the doctor.  She seems to strain really hard getting red in the face to get anything out but is not constipated.  Last night, she woke up screaming trying to go.  I had started looking up infant massage techniques for gas yesterday afternoon and had begun to wonder if the small amount of iron in the formula supplement was causing her pain.  The doctor seemed to think it was normal for this age but that it was probably harder for Natalie to pass stools because of her low stomach tone.  A friend had told me her son with Down’s had a similar problem.  As her strength increases, it should get better but right now it’s very disheartening to see her struggle so much.  We did get a weight while at the office, though, and, with a dry diaper on, she is now up to 7 lbs 12 oz!  Last Thursday, she was 7 lbs 6 oz naked.

We are continuing to work on breastfeeding.  It’s still hit or miss.  She did actually get a full feeding from me at 5 am this morning but every other time today she cried a lot and stopped and started.  I just get so frustrated with her crying I give up too soon sometimes.  We really crave prayer for this.  With pumping and feeding her a bottle in the middle of the night, sleep is precious.

One sweet thing did happen today.  Zach has been out of school this week and has been wanting more and more to help with Natalie.  One time today, he fed her the bottle while I pumped.  Of course the bottle is much faster than the pump so they got done before me.  I turned away for a minute and then noticed that Zach was picking her up off the floor and putting her in the bouncee seat for ‘play’ time.  He did great!  He held her head and neck very steady like he’d been doing it for ages.  Later on when Natalie was crying from gas pain, I laid down on the floor with her on my stomach.  Zach begged to let him try.  He laid down and I put the  baby on him, tummy down.  She fell asleep instantly.  When I told him what a good job he was doing, he said something about I should have him do it more since she fell asleep faster for him.  If he only knew what he was saying….

Prayer Requests

• easing of Natalie’s gas pain and her ability to go poop
• that Natalie would be able to breastfeed
• that Natalie’s Medicaid application would be approved.  Started the application today and they said it could take 2 to 6 months.
• for our hospital bills.  We’ve been receiving our first couple of ‘this is not a bill’ statements.  Natalie’s bills alone will be more than our house could be sold for.  If Medicaid is approved for her time in the hospital, then her bills will be 100% covered between that and our insurance.  Then we just have to tackle my hospital bill!
• praise that she is eating very well from the bottle and gaining weight since being at home.
• praise that Zach and Julia are loving her so much

Amy