A tough couple days

Look at this sweet face - we love this boy

Trey under doublebank phototherapy with eyeshields in place - he was so good and actually looks like he might be enjoying himself

We brought Trey home on Wednesday evening (Halloween) - just 36 hours after he was born. We were so happy to come home. My parents and sister were here with us and David's parents and his brother Matt and his wife Renee came to visit us as well. The first night home was good but tiring. We took Trey to the pediatrician the next afternoon. Dr. Herron was concerned that he looked jaundiced. She had us go to Parkwest to get some blood drawn from his heel. His bilirubin level that night was 16.1 and for his age, that was too high. Dr. Herron ordered us a biliblanket that we placed on Trey's back whenever he wasn't eating in order to help us get his jaundice under control. I set my alarm that night for every 2 hours when I woke up to feed him. I am breastfeeding and my milk had still not come in at that point, but thankfully he was feeding well. The next day we had to get blood drawn again and then go see the pediatrician. Trey was still looking very jaundiced that day. When we saw the pediatrician, she said that his bilirubin level was 19.4 (despite being on the biliblanket all night and day). She said she wanted to admit him to Children's Hospital to have intensive phototherapy. We came home, packed our bags, and headed to the hospital. He was under phototherapy for 24 hours - I continued to feed him. By this point, my milk had come in. We could only take him out long enough to feed him which was so hard for both of us. David and I stayed in the room next to his crib all night and all day long. His bilirubin level came down to 12 - which amazed our pediatrician - and we were able to come home last night. We are so thankful that Trey is better and that we are able to be here with him. It was so hard for us to see him have to get bloodwork done and to see him cry and not be able to hold him close to us. I would have given anything to take his place. The emotions and love and sense of protection I have experienced this week are among the strongest, most intense I have ever felt. He is such a sweet little boy - we adore him and are blown away that God gave him to us.

Daddy watching over his little boy