Why is my baby yellow???

 During the first two weeks of my baby's life, she was very yellow. She was diagnosed with jaundice because her bilirubin levels were high. What did that mean? It meant that her body was unable to properly break down the bilirubin. Numerous blood test was conducted and the levels kept getting higher and higher. At the time of discharge, it was almost to the point we needed to do phototherapy on her. Each time the doctor came back to let me know of the test results, I got more and more upset that the jaundice was getting worse. I was asking myself, why. Why did this happen? What am I doing wrong? Why is the bilirubin level not going down? Eventually, two days after being discharged from the hospital, I took my baby back to the hospital. We took her to the ER after his sister noticed something seemed off about my baby. After we did some more test, it was determined that my baby was just very sleepy and that jaundice wasn't the issue. We finally met and spoke with the pediatrician who took care of her. She explained the reasoning behind her elevating bilirubin level was that baby was not getting fed enough. The crucial information we needed, she provided. We admitted that we did not know on that and said that we were inexperienced and that we were just following what others in the hospital was doing. The pediatric ER doctor also explained to us that in order for the bilirubin level to go down was to keep feeding. The good news was that when they ran blood tests on her the day she was in the ER, her bilirubin level went down from two days prior. I thought to myself, had I let her stay in the hospital, the levels would have been worse, and she would have needed phototherapy. My selfishness in wanting to take her home the day of the discharge actually was the best decision I made. I also think that sunlight exposure was also a contributing factor in her bilirubin level going down. After the ER trip, we began feeding her more and more. By the time of her next blood test, her bilirubin levels went down again. When we got back the test results, I cried so hard because the test showed her bilirubin level was at normal. I never felt so much happier.

At the time of this post, my baby is no longer yellow, and she is living the good life not having to worry about having jaundice.

I personally want to thank the pediatrician, who took care of her while in the hospital, for taking time out to come to the ER to explain what was going on and why her bilirubin level wasn't going down. I also want to thank the ER doctor who explain and informed us that if baby doesn't eat enough, the jaundice will come back.