When we got the call I got numb hearing that we need to go to Reston hospital really shocked me. Really anything that we needed to do we would have done. We just hope that Liam would be healthy and I think that simply any parent would also be concerned if they found out that their child needed to go to the ER right away. I packed the Diaper bag and got things ready, while Ahmie fed Liam. This delayed us a bit.
On the ride over, (Ahmie was driving) Ahmie was tearing and was afraid that something might be terribly wrong with Liam. Her eyes narrowed and tears grew and welled in her eyes. I held her hands and said to her that it was only jaundice and that lots of babies get it and it should not be a problem.
In my mind I was really concerned, Ahmie had dreams while she was pregnant and in none of the dreams did it involve a boy child. She always dreamt of girl children. I was at some base level concerned that Liam might be really sick and I can't even write the next line in my train of thought.
We soon arrived at Reston Hospital to see our relatives already beat us there. Our Uncle Dan, her daughter Kerri with her infant daughter Ella, and her oldest daughter Kristy and her S.O. Tony (Mr. Nice Pants uhh… a story for a later day).
The next section reads like a list so bare with me.
5/30/04 6:54 pm
Admitted to Reston ER
Got a call @ 5ish from Dr. Kugler about Liam's bilirubin levels.
5/30/04 7:07 pm
Er pediatrician Dr. Lozano meets with us check vitals
Normal exam check fine
Told that Liam was at high risk for jaundice because of the following factors, mom O+ blood type, Asian heritage, breast fed.
Dr. Lozano ordered the following blood tests bilirubin level/blood count/ type (coombs test)
5/30/04 7:49 pm
Waiting for the blood draw
Kristy came in to talk w/ us
5/30/04 7:53 pm
The guy was a real wiz at drawing blood. Even though with each drop collected it pained my soul. That little bit one drop at a time. Liam was really good I kissed him and gave him my pinky to suck on to calm him.
5/30/04 8:07 pm
Ordeal over went out and asked Ahmie to come back in. Ahmie came in and fed Liam and we stayed and waited for the results in the ER room.
The tests took over one hour to process we watched some TV in the ER room, Dr. Lozano came in and talked with us and explained to us the test results, normal blood levels, O+ blood type and a Bilirubin level of 17.5 mg/dL. She diagnosed Liam with Jaundice. She said that this is a step in the right direction because the level did not get any higher but since the 1 test was from another lab then she wanted another blood test tomorrow to verify that the levels are dropping and or stable. Dr Lozano talked with us and gave us some level of reassurance that things are fairly OK. We left at about 10:30 after checking out and pre registering for tomorrow's blood test.
It isn't easy being yellow.
2 comments:
Hey pally, how did you do that cool quote thingy?
Em here. Jaundice is really common. Heck, in my family it's expected (Cora being the only one who didn't yellow). They may want to do phototherapy, or they might just keep an eye on the levels. Either way, not likely to be a big deal. They may want to do ultrasound to check and make sure the organs look OK, but they almost always do. My brother had to get phototherapy and ultrasounds, but he's obviously none the worse for wear (the rest of us were all "keep an eye on the levels but don't treat").
*hugs*
-=- Em.
Post a Comment