Baby
Isaac Comes Home
| Isaac, Mom, Dad and Grandma and Grandpa Ankrom arrived home at mid-night on Monday, November 14. Isaac wasn't sure what he thought about sleeping in his crib in Mom and Dad's room. Finally at 4 am, he settled down for the night. Isaac was doing really well with nursing and when he slept, was very peaceful. We had him into the pediatrician's office by 10 a.m. for his first check-up. | |
 Dr. Heather Burrows is Isaac's pediatrician. We liked her right away. She took time to satisfy the curiosity of Isaac's engineer parents and their insatiable need for data. She also removed Isaac's cord clamp. Isaac had lost a few ounces which is normal. Following Isaac's doctor visit, he made his first visit to the chemical engineering department where he was quite a popular little guy.
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 Dr. Burrows gave us the go-ahead to give Isaac a pacifier since his breast-feeding latch was so good. We call it "Magic Binkie" because it makes him instantly happy. He had previously been using Mom as a pacifier. He also likes to hold Magic Binkie in place with a chubby little hand.
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| Tuesday night, Isaac slept pretty soundly through the night. Then slept pretty soundly all Wednesday. Tuesday evening, Wendy found out the mohel from Detroit was not available for Isaac's bris. He gave her the name of a mohel from Lansing--Dr. Kaufman. It just so happened Dr. Kaufman was going to be in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, so he stopped by to meet with us and examine Isaac. After the mohel's visit, Isaac made his second visit to the chemical engineering department. On the way there, Wendy noticed that in the sunlight, Isaac was looking pretty yellow, especially his eyes. Isaac had only been nursing for about three minutes at a time. He wasn't having enough pee-pee diapers, and there were orange urea crystals in the diapers he had. We decided to call Dr. Burrows. After hearing the details, we were patched through to the nurse who got us an appointment immediately. Isaac's bilirubin (toxin) levels were building up, making him sleepy. In addition, Wendy's milk had come in--unbeknownst to her--and the added breast tissue was making nursing harder. Isaac had, at this point, lost a full pound from his birth weight (~15%). Dr. Burrows sent us home with some breastfeeding tips and an appointment for the following day. | |
 Isaac and Mom sat under Wendy's sun therapy lamp to nurse. We woke Isaac up every half hour to feed--even if it was only for three minutes. Grandma Ankrom clocked the feedings. You can see milk running down Isaac's cheek. It seems that he is as messy an eater as his father.
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 So we went back to the pediatrician the next day and Isaac had gained ~1/3 pound. He was still pretty yellow though and the doctor had Isaac go to the lab to draw blood to test for bilirubens. This would mean a prick the foot. (eighth prick and blood draw in three days!!! [4 glucose screens, 1 hospital biliruben test, and 2 Michigan genetic screens]). The test results: Isaac bilirubens day 4: 17 mg/dL Maximum acceptable level for a baby Isaac's size and age: 20 mg/dL Adult biliruben level: ~0 mg/dL So the results were not as comforting as we would have hoped but in the acceptable range. |
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Return to Baby Isaac page.
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