Our Bilibed Baby

By Joel on August 11, 2006

Well, we're home, and back in the swing of things. Little Lucia (pronounced "Lou-see-a") is healthy and happy. Her schedule includes nursing, sleeping, changing diapers, burping, and (yep) crying. Heather and I are so happy to be parents, and have the overwhelming sense that God is with us in this child. Somebody1 pointed out that since her name means "light", and since she was born on the Feast of the Transfiguration, she will be a light to the world of the glory of God. Heather and I will work hard to support her in this tremendous mission.

Just as we were leaving the hospital on Tuesday, we found out that her bilirubin (which causes jaundice) levels were high, so they sent us home with a bilibed. It looks like a scanner with a bright blue light. They told us to leave Lucia on there all the time (short of eating and changing). Our home quickly turned into an NICU! Unfortunately, we couldn't spend a much quality snuggling time. Instead, we charted all of her bili exposure...

Biliruben Chart

After a sum total of 21 hours and 23 minutes, the great news came this morning that Lucia need not spend another minute on the tanning bed. But since she is destined to be a "light to all nations," we might give her a little more "bili time" to soak up all that energy so she's well charged and slightly radiating. :)

Thanks to everyone for your support, prayers, meals and encouragement. Attached are a few pictures of cute little Lucia on her bilibed.

Links

  1. http://www.daniellerose.com/
» Joel's blog | 6 comments

Comments

1. Tiffany Watkins on Aug 16, 06 at 4:44 am

Your real life glo worm! How cute are those Pics! She looks so peaceful, hopefully the two of you are getting some rest too. Treasure this time, toddlerhood just around the bend! Love, Tiffany

2. Kendra on Aug 18, 06 at 4:10 am

omigoodness she is adorable...i cant wait to meet her in person!

3. Stuart Lewis on Aug 8, 07 at 1:07 am

It is fantastic to hear such a great story with a happy ending. Me and my wife are going through this with our daughter Stella. Unfortunately in Australia we do not have the Bilibeds so we are coming up to our 3rd visit in hospital in as many weeks due to the levels dropping when having Phototherapy treatment then jumping back up again once she is out of hospital. All other tests have come back negative and she feeds very regular so its just a matter of waiting it out. Although she was 2 weeks premature. I just hope we can have the happy ending you have had. God Bless You.

4. Heather on Aug 8, 07 at 1:24 am

Dear Stuart,

Thanks so much for your comment. I'm glad to hear that it was encouraging for you. Looking back, I would have snuggled up and nursed her more and not worried as much about the bili bed. We were supposed to have gotten a "bili blanket" where we could have snuggled her up in it and held her, but there was a miscommunication and we got the bed instead. In the last couple days with the bed, we cuddled her more since she got very, very sick of the bed, and sure enough, her bili levels got better. A lactation consultant told me, and I have also read in books, that the number one best cure for jaundice is breastfeeding - it's even better than the bili lights, beds, etc. So keep up the great work and best wishes for you and your little one.

If you happen to see this post, I'm curious, how did you find our site?

God bless, Heather

5. Nathan on Sep 25, 07 at 10:29 pm

We just had a beautiful baby girl. They prescribed a Billibed to use too. I don't like it, my baby doesn't like it, nobody does except the doctors who insist that we continue to keep going in for testing. I feel that it should be called a Bully-bed. I want to snuggle with my sweetheart!

6. Heather Stein on Nov 17, 07 at 12:45 pm

Blogger's note:

I've received several comments on this blog from others who have been prescribed bilibeds for their infants. This is a short, very interesting article about why bilirubin could be good for our babies...and why bilibeds could be unnecessary.

As with many other things in the medical world, it pays off to do some extra research before submitting to a drug or treatment that doesn't seem to make sense. I hope to blog about this topic soon.

With that in mind, I will not be using a bilibed in the future.

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