Rough week

Last week was certainly a rough one for us. Madelyn came home from the hospital on Saturday, March 20th. We had her 2 day appt at the pediatrician on Monday morning, March 22nd. The dr sent us to the lab after she checked Madelyn out b/c she said she appeared to be a little yellow and she wanted her bilirubin level checked. Poor little girl got her foot poked and then the guy didn't have a clue how to draw blood from babies b/c he squeezed her foot as it was elevated and bruised it soooooo bad. Not sure why he didn't know that blood doesn't flow well when elevated, but after a very long 20 minutes of him squeezing her foot and her crying so hard, he finally got enough blood. Let me tell you, I was LESS than impressed with him. Later I found out that he was a substitute in the lab for that day and had very little experience. Not our lucky day. Well, the results came back and her level was 19. The dr said anything above 15 needs some sort of intervention, so they sent us home with a biliblanket and an at home nurse came to our house to show us how to hook it up and use it. I will continue the story further in this blog entry.

Here are the pics that were taken in the hospital right after Madelyn was born....

Our other "BIG" baby at home! Did I mention he's the best big brother ever?!!!! He adores his little sister!

Here is the biliblanket all hooked up. The light was on her back and we had to fasten it around her tummy so it would stay on.

She first started wearing this on Monday afternoon. The nurse came to our house on Tuesday morning to poke her foot again to test her bili level (thankfully this nurse had tons of experience and the blood flowed great b/c she let her foot/leg dangle instead of squeezing it so tight). I told her about our horrible experience on Monday and she promised me before she started that she could get the blood very quickly without bruising Madelyn's other foot. She then left our house and took the blood sample to the lab and I got the results an hour later. This time her level was 18.5 (so it was VERY slowly going down). The same nurse came back Wed. morning to test again and she though Madelyn looked a lot better and less yellow so she guessed her level would be down to around 14. She poked her foot again and took the sample back to the lab. I got a call an hour later and her level was at 18.1. I was beginning to get frustrated b/c the biliblanket didn't seem to be working fast enough to get her levels down. On Thursday morning we had another appt. with the pediatrician. The nurse came in to take Madelyn's vitals and her temp was very low (95 degrees). The same girl took her temp again b/c she thought she did it wrong, but it still came back 95 degrees the 2nd time. Then, another nurse came in to take her temp.....still at 95 degrees. The dr. finally came in and said she was cold and wanted us to bundle her up tight in the blanket and take her downstairs to get her blood drawn again to test her bili level. We did that and were told to bring her back upstairs and get her temp taken again. So, after 7 rectal temperature readings, the dr came back in and said the baby is really cold and needs to go to the children's hospital in Norfolk. Her bili level had also increased slightly to 18.2. We were most upset that they continued to take her temperature multiple times and got the same reading. Joe asked to speak to the dr again and he let her have it. He was furious that we had wasted over an hour taking temps when we should have been on our way to the hospital b/c it was apparent that our daughter was very sick.

I also forgot to mention that on the way down to the lab I handed my paperwork to the ladies at the front desk upstairs in the pediatricians office. I went back in the room to check on Madelyn and see if Joe needed any help getting her dressed and bringing her out to get her downstairs to the lab. I told the ladies at the front desk that I would be right back to get my paperwork before heading to the lab. Well, when I came out, I overheard the lady at the front desk tell another mother with a newborn baby to head down to the lab and get blood drawn. I asked the lady at the desk, "Is that my paperwork for Madelyn"? She then told the new mother walking out the door to stop and look at the form. Sure enough, they were giving my child's paperwork to another family and they had also put Madelyn's ankle bracelet on that child's leg. :( I was most upset.....and our current pediatrician office is supposed to be one of the best in Va Beach and is affiliated with the CHKD children's hospital. Needless to say, we will be looking for a new pediatrician immediately for both our children.

Here is Madelyn under the heat and bili lights in the ER at the children's hospital.

They put her mask on so tight that her eyelids are now bruised a little.

Here she is when she got admitted and went upstairs to a room.

Here we are after getting discharged and getting ready to head back home on Sunday afternoon.

She's in the car and ready to go home!

Pop is proud of his new granddaughter!

Flowers from my parents....AKA Nan and Pop

Flowers from Joe's parents AKA Gramma Sue and Grampa Joe

Nana loves Joseph and Madelyn

Already sporting her Gymboree clothes!

Mommy and Daddy's wedding rings

She likes the swing MUCH better than her big brother did when he was her age.

We head back to the dr tomorrow to get Madelyn's vitals checked and her bilirubin level tested again. We are praying for a great outcome!