I knew it! Austin is still a little jaundice, and we went to have his levels tested this morning...16.6! It is all unconjugated bilirubin, which is good news! (conjugated bili would be bad, that would mean that the liver has a problem)
He has always been a little orange/yellow, and in his eyes you really notice it. I had the third person tell me that his "eyes looked yellow" so I thought we better call Dr. C. Of course she said it probably no big deal, but we will have hime checked to be sure. 99% of the time it is just "breastfeeding Jaundice" or "breast milk jaundice" and 1% if the time it is a liver issue...so we checked of course.
It is totally normal, and the reasons are totally unknown. For some reason, it takes breast milk longer to clear out the bili...opposed to formula. A long time ago, doctors would recommend feeding the baby formula to "get rid of it" but that is not done much these days...not needed to. One theory is that breastfed babies nurse at different time intervals...sometimes every hour, sometimes every 2-3 hours...just depends. That makes the volume of BM different, and sometimes its never a large amount. If the baby is formula fed, it is usually fed a set amount, every 3 or 4 hours...and the volume is larger....causing the bill to "flush" out faster....(?? just a theory) Seems completely unnatural if you ask me! There is no research that shows that an elevated bill level at 2 and 3 months is harmful....just makes the babies appear a little more yellow! SO it may hang around for a little longer...and thats fine.
SO the next time someone says my baby looks "MEXICAN" I will inform them its just a little jaundice!
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