Days of Excitement...

Okay, the past few days haven't been all that exciting. They have been pretty full though. We thought we would get Samuel started early on his summer tan so we got him his own little tanning bed...

Just kidding! We have been having a bilirubin adventure at our house. For those of you unfamiliar with bilirubins, here is what WebMD has to say, "Bilirubin, which is yellowish in color, is produced when red blood cells are broken down and is removed from the bloodstream by the liver. In newborns, the body may produce more bilirubin than the newborn's liver can process."
When this happens, the infant gets jaundice. When we left the hospital Samuel's Bilirubin levels were at a ten. They told us to get him tested again the next day. On Monday, his levels had gone up to a 17. They gave us this great little bed, with special lights, to use to try to bring his levels down. Due to a miscommunication with they guy who dropped it off ( he told us some wrong info on how to use the bed...) Samuel didn't get enough exposure to the lights and on Tuesday his levels were up to an 18. They sent out another guy to check the lights on the bed and he told us how we were supposed to be using the equipment. So we used them right that night, but his levels were up to 18.6 on Wednesday. We spent all day Wednesday using the light therapy and when he went in this morning his levels were down to 16. We also found out that as Samuel gets older, the levels can be higher before they are dangerous. So we get to take a 24 hour break from the lights and get him tested again to see if they will come down on their own, or if there is another problem entirely. The good thing in all this is, we know that we really like the new pediatrician that we picked, since we have been into his office every day this week! The hard part is that Samuel has to stay on the lights all day, only coming off of them to eat and get changed. So we don't get to cuddle and play with him like we want to.



Matt is still loving being a Dad to two. He has been a super dad this week. I am still recovering, so he has been taking Samuel to the doctor while I watch Steven at home. He keeps Samuel next to his side of the bed so he can check on him through the night. And he is super helpful with all the things that need to be done, and dealing with a sick Steven. Even more amazing, is the fact that he is so helpful while being sick. Lack of sleep allowed Steven's cold to invade and he has been fighting it too. The good news is, Steven is on the tail end of his cold. This cold is the worst cold I ever remember him having. Thank goodness it's almost over!

Steven LOVES his new baby brother. The hardest part of getting him to adjust to Samel, is keeping him away so Steven doesn't "share" his cold with Samuel. We do let him have minimized exposure because he loves him so much. He always wants to hold baby brother, kiss baby brother, and see baby brother. When we let him hold Samuel, he doesn't like to let him go!



And last but not least, a good picture of Samuels handsome little face! We finally got a good pic of one of the rare times he is wide eyed and looking around. I think that his little war on the bilirubins is wearing his little body out! He sleeps a lot, but we love having him in our little family and look forward to our (all of us) recovery so we can get going with our routine.