We kicked off the morning with a visit to a lactation consultant. An hour later, we were armed with lots of good tips to make meal time easier. Dad stayed at home with Elia while Mom ran her first errand without the baby. After lunchtime Jennie and Madelynn came for a visit. It was so much fun to play with them. Maddie was so sweet with Elia, they're going to have so much fun together when Elia's a bit bigger.
That afternoon we went to the doctor for Elia's one week check up. Elia weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs. even - so big! Because her weight gain is back on track, we don't have to wake her up in the middle of the night to eat anymore - hurrah! The doctor sent us to the lab just to re-check her bilirubin levels since her next appointment isn't until she's two months old. Grandma L came to visit for a few minutes and the doctor called back to say that her bilirubin levels were high so they were sending over phototherapy lights for her to wear 24/7 until those numbers went down. The lights make her glow like a firefly! Thankfully, Elia didn't seem to mind the lights.
Visitors: Jennie and Madelynn C + Grandma Lautenbach
Dinner Provided By: Jennie C
Latest Nickname: Glowbug
Elia survived her first night of phototherapy and we went back to the lab to see how she was doing. After that, we spent a quiet day at home filled with lots of snuggles. Unfortunately, we found out her levels were down but not far enough so that meant another day of phototherapy and labs again in the morning.
Biggest Challenge: The phototherapy machine has to be plugged in, making it feel a bit like a tether.
Friday, April 26
Mom and Dad woke up feeling (wait for it...) rested this morning! Elia ate great yesterday and each of us only got up with her twice overnight. Since she's eating better, we were up for shorter amounts of time and it made a world of difference. After such a nice sleep, Dad went to work and Mom took Elia back to the lab. When we got home, Mom's cousin Allison stopped by to drop off dinner and meet E. We had a visit from church's Care Committee, they brought a meal that we'll eat this weekend - how lucky to have double dinners! We took a little nap and then Grandma L popped in for a few minutes before Elia got hungry again. After a snack, we got the call that her levels were down and we could take the lights off of her - yay!
Since she was no longer tied to the machine, we decided to give tummy time a try while we waited for Dad to get home from work.
Elia still needs to work on it. She was much better at regular play time and warmed up to the sweet face she saw in the mirror.
Once Dad got home, we took a family walk around the neighborhood. It finally feels like spring around here!
We go in the morning for what we hope will be her last blood draw for a while, wish us luck!
Visitors: Allison B + Mayflower Congregational Church Care Committee + Grandma Lautenbach
Dinner Provided By: Allison B
Cute!!
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