Thursday, December 16, 2010

Early Days with a Yellowy Newborn

M's first days went fairly well.With G, I had trouble with breastfeeding after she was born and there was quite a bit of stress in the first week/month of her life, but with M, it has gone very smoothly.
Our only stress was that at 5 days old, she began to get a yellowish tint. She was jaundiced. It's fairly common in newborns and what had happened was that she was sleepy, so she wasn't waking up to eat, so she would sleep more because she was getting jaundiced, and it became a cycle of a sleepy, non-eaty baby. The public health nurse came to visit (SUCH an invaluable service!) and was a bit concerned, so I made sure to wake her to eat every 2-3 hours. The doctor checked her blood the next day, which made for a bit of stress.
But, by Monday, everything had cleared up and she was back up to her birth weight.

So far, she has been a very nice baby to us. She doesn't really cry much yet, and she sleeps in good chunks. I know this will change, but so far it's been great. It's amazing to have such a sleepy baby!

There are some things I really remembered about having a newborn - the lack of sleep, the constant feeding - but other things I had totally forgotten. I forgot about spit-up, pee that goes everywhere and dozens of diaper changes. I had also forgotten how teeny tiny they are, how they snuggle into you so nicely and how they stretch their arms out in an adorable way when stressed.

So far, so good.

1 comment:

  1. I am glad to hear her jaundice is passing. Corrina was jaundiced too and I loved how much she slept. Only, with her being the first I thought she was a great sleeper and didn't know what to do when that was over. Annika has been easier in every way than the first, and I wish this to you too.
    Glad you have people to be with this Christmas. We miss you alot, so its great to hear news from the east.
    Janie

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