Wednesday, 14 September 2016

Baby Jaundice


I recall this as I was congratulating a new mummy friend about her delivery… Her newborn has jaundice and had an extended stay in the hospital after birth..  Both my kids had jaundice that was picked up around Day 3 post-delivery. Hubby and I stayed an additional night for both kids as we wanted to be with our babies.

During JE’s time, being a first-time mother, I didn’t know what to expect. I had learnt about jaundice during the pre-natal class but it didn’t kick in until I was told my baby had to stay additional night and I couldn’t carry her home immediately. We stayed one more night after being checked by Dr Lim to be fit for discharge. The next day, the PD still deemed the jaundice not sufficiently low for discharge and had to stay an additional night again! We had to check out as it was silly spending so much so on hospitalization fees when I was well enough to rest at home. We stayed at mum’s as it was nearer from TMC and more convenient to visit JE to bring her freshly pumped milk. At this, I remember tears spilling out of my eyes when I toppled my painstakingly pumped milk while trying to transfer it after my first manual pumping session at home.

When JE was finally discharged, we happily went home… only to be readmitted during the one-week check-up because the damned jaundice spiked again. I held back my tears while in the Dr’s room but they rolled torrentially down my face once I was out waiting for the nurses to get the forms ready for admission and photo-therapy. It was a horrendous experience as hubby was busy and my sister was accompanying me.

When it was JY’s turn, I was calmer and knew I had to leave it to the experts, but still the readmission from the PD led to a pool of tears and funny Dr Tan saying “Aiyo… you don’t cry leh, I’m very scared when girls cry..” We did the readmission and went home to JE and some sleep. Both kids were diagnosed with blood type jaundice as they followed hubby’s blood type instead of mine. However, JY’s case turned into breastmilk jaundice and continued well until he was 1 month old. In the end I cheated and gave FM instead of breastfeeding for the few days prior to the last check-up. Thankfully, he managed to clear it  and did not have to go through those blood tests and pee tests nor therapy again.

Some of the methods we tried to alleviate the jaundice:
  • -          Feed and bathe with honeysuckle flower (Jin Yin Hua) from traditional medicinal shops. Boil the flower in water, and then bathe the baby in a tub mixed with the solution for at least 3 -4 days. Info: http://www.heartknowsbest.com.sg/qna/QuestionDetail?qid=1045
  • -          Sun bathe. Bring the baby out to the gentle sun for Vit D rays
  • -          Cut down on ginger in mummy’s diet. Apparently I took Wen Dong Ginger which was very heaty and prolonged the jaundice.
  • -          Gave formula feed for the 2 – 3 days prior to the check-up after baby was identified for breast milk jaundice. I was too upset with the multiple pricks for blood test.
  • -          We also did a bath with warm rice water, though I forgot was it for jaundice or for a bloated baby..
  • -          What I read but didn’t try: You can bathe baby in stout beer too!



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