The First 2 Weeks

The first two weeks of Wyatt's life were very stressful. To start off, the day that Joseph and I went to the hospital, Lexi had a low grade fever. We had been outside a lot with the family reunion so we just assumed that she had gotten too much sun. Then, her fever jumped up and stayed high for about 4 days. It was 104 degrees with both Motrin and Tylenol. My mother is a saint and got up with Lexi every 4 hours to give her medicine since the girls stayed with my mom while I was in the hospital.

Paige then got sick with whatever Lexi had and then got a bladder infection. The girls didn't even get to come up to the hospital to meet Wyatt and didn't get to hold him until he was 2 weeks old.

On top of dealing with the girls being so sick, Wyatt decided to give us some stress of his own. When he was first born, he had low blood sugar levels and so they had to prick his heel a ton. At first it was every half hour, then extended to every hour, then every three hours. His poor heels were like pin cushions. When we left the hospital on Tuesday (2 days old), the nurse commented that he was starting to look a little yellow. His billirubin levels were at 8 so not too high.

On Thursday (4 days old), we went to the doctor and she was concerned about how jaundiced he looked. So, we went in for another billirubin check - meaning, another heel prick! His levels were elevated from the hospital but weren't at a concerning level. The doctor wanted me to have it checked again on Friday (5 days old). She said that if his levels got to 16 that he would have to have phototherapy at home and if they got to 20, then they would admit him back into the hospital.

Friday levels were 15.1. My doctor had already left for the day so the on call doctor called. She said that their levels usually peak at day 5 and if he was eating and pooping okay, she was comfortable with me not having him checked all weekend. On top of that, I thought that Wyatt was starting to look better and less yellow. We were seeing our pediatrician on Monday so she would be able to check on him then.

Monday (8 days old) is when everything got really stressful. We took Wyatt in that morning to get circumcised. First off, the doctor said that he was glowing so we would need to get his levels checked again. Also, he had lost an ounce from when she had seen him on Thursday and was still below his birth weight. She wasn't real concerned about his weight and figured that it would work itself out once we got the jaundice under control. Still, in my mind, I felt like we were at 2 strikes.

Wyatt's circumcision went great. Joseph was in the procedure room with him. He hardly cried. When they brought him back to me, he nursed really well. The nurse checked his circumcision before we left and it looked great. They circumcised him using the Plastibell procedure so the nurse said that he shouldn't bleed at all after the procedure. If he did bleed (and it is RARE for them to bleed afterwards), then we would need to go to the ER immediately. After leaving the doctor's office, we went and had his billirubin levels checked. He bled a ton when they pricked his heel - more than he had with previous checks - but we didn't think a whole lot about it. They were able to get the bleeding to stop without effort so we went on our merry way.

The doctor's office called a few hours later and Wyatt's levels were at 17.2. They called Norco and were having phototherapy equipment delivered to the house. After arranging with Norco to schedule delivery of the equipment, we decided to change Wyatt's diaper and then I would feed him. When Joseph pulled the diaper back, it was FULL of blood. He could see the blood before he had even gotten the diaper off. We both panicked. I called the doctor's office since it was still business hours and they said to go ahead and bring him down there instead of the ER. That was the longest drive ever!!!

Once there, they started applying pressure and using this gauze type stuff called Stericell (sp?) that is supposed to help stop bleeding. They also gave him a Vitamin K shot to try to help his blood clot. We were there for about an hour and a half and they still couldn't get the bleeding to stop. I was crying in the nursing room and Joseph was in the procedure room with the doctor trying to get the bleeding to stop. It was finally decided that we needed to take Wyatt to the ER and have a pediatric urologist look at him. We were told that he might have to go into surgery in order to get the bleeding to stop.

When we got to the ER and met with the pediatric urologist, the bleeding had seemed to stop. I think that the Vitamin K shot had finally started to kick in. The doctor said to take him home and watch him. She said that if the bleeding started up again to follow up with her at her office. The reason that he had bled wasn't due to the circumcision being done wrong. For some reason, his body just wouldn't clot after the initial bleeding that every little boy has when circumcised.

When we got home, I was a wreck. Wyatt had to start phototherapy and I couldn't hold him while he was in his "tanning bed". All I wanted to do was hold my baby. Some good friends of ours found out what was going on and offered to come over and give Wyatt a priesthood blessing. I was given one also. In Wyatt's blessing, he was told that his body would heal itself. He was told that he would not need surgery for the bleeding, that the jaundice would leave his body, and that he would rapidly gain weight. In my blessing, I was told that I would have peace. Wyatt started to bleed again that night, but it was very minimal so we decided to just watch it.

On Tuesday (9 days old), the bleeding stopped in the early afternoon and he hasn't bled since. The pediatrician and I decided that we wouldn't check Wyatt's billirubin levels that day because he had been through so much. Since he was on the phototherapy, we decided that we could wait until Wednesday. On Wednesday, his levels had come down to 12!!!! We were able to take him off phototherapy. 2 of his 3 issues were resolved and I felt so blessed!

I took him in to be weighed when he was 15 days old and he had gained 12 ounces from the week before. I then took him in at 18 days old and he had gained another 12 ounces.......in 4 days! He hasn't been back yet to check his weight. We will go on Thursday.

I feel so blessed that our prayers were answered. I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows each and every one of us and our situation. Most of all, I am thankful that Wyatt's issues are resolved and that we have a healthy baby boy!!! In those first 2 weeks, we were either at the hospital or the doctor's office almost every single day with one of the kids.

Here are some pictures from the first two weeks.......

Getting his glasses on to go "tanning"

In the "tanning bed"

Making one of his MANY cute faces!

I love this little boy!!