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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