First few days

You know that episode of Battlestar Galactica where they have to do a hyperlight jump every 33 minutes so the Cylons don't catch up with them? Our first few days and nights home with the baby have felt a little like that, although things have evened out by now.

Baby had highish jaundice levels when she left the hospital, so we have had to bring her in for labwork daily until today. Jaundice is caused by the breakdown of red blood cells - newborns have blood thick with red blood cells, which gives them better oxygen supply in the womb. When these cells are broken down after birth, a byproduct called bilirubin can build up and makes the skin and eyes yellowish.

Bilirubin can be removed from the body by the liver or by light on the skin. We did phototherapy at home, but we also had to feed the baby every two hours or so in order to get her liver excreting waste (including bilirubin) as quickly as possible. Her jaundice peaked on day four of life, and by day five we got the good news that she would not have to be re-admitted to the hospital for more phototherapy (which would involve putting the baby in a light box).

The cycle of waking her up and getting her alert enough to feed, feeding her, burping, changing, and getting her back to sleep took about two hours, so we barely had time to sleep ourselves during this process. Very glad that she's over the worst of it and now we can feed her and let her sleep a little longer as she dictates.

So far it seems that this kid is really mellow and sleeps like a champ. Some jaundiced babies are lethargic, though, so it could be that we will see some new temperament once her jaundice totally clears.