First 24 hours

So, here we were....with our newborn, perfect little boy.  So, so tiny with all that hair!!  Both of us (meaning mom and dad) were exhausted, but happy to have you there.  At the hospital, there was no nursery.  The baby was kept in the room with the recovering mother.  

  

The recovering mother, just was lucky enough to have a recovering father to help!  We were left there to figure it all out...how to be new parents.  

One of the first things we tried to do, was put you in Cousin's outfit.  There was some crying involved, I'm not gonna lie....but the outfit proved to be WAY TOO BIG!






It wasn't too long into the morning, that the pediatrician team came in to give us an assessment and some information regarding Rusty Bones.  The first order of business, was that he was jaundice.  Enough jaundice that immediate light therapy was needed.  His Belirubin levels were high, very typical of the following:
1) gestational diabetes baby
2) babies born early (this is were the team explained he was actually 36 weeks, not 37)
3) low birth weight (5lbs11oz, now 5lbs3oz)
4) different blood type than mom (he has his daddy's blood type -- A+)

The treatment would be a blanket with UVB lights that he would have to wear 24/7 with a mask.  The more he was exposed, the better off he was.  He also needed to eat as much as possible!  The more he ate, the more he pooped out the belirubin.  The team also told us about his 3 skin rashes (4 if you include baby acne) he had from the hormones.  These would all clear up eventually:

1) Pustular Melanosis

2) Erythema Toxicum

3) Milia

Rusty Bones also had his first guests!  Grandma Pat and Grandpa Scott came to visit.....At this point, you had already started your light treatment.  We also got two more warm welcomes with flowers from Cousin Nicki and Auntie Aklet.

We found out very quickly that one of the mask styles we were using did not work.  Rusty Bones enjoyed having his hands in his face and would quickly more the mask off his face, making the lights unsafe to his eyes.  We opted for a new mask that worked MUCH better.

Rusty Bones got some skin contact with Mom, while he was nursing beautifully and getting the colostrum.  Skin time was also had with Dad, as he had a hard time keeping his own body temperature up to where it needed to be (that's a lot of work for an infant so tiny!!).  We also found out some more statistics:

Born: June 1st, 2013
Time: 0231
Length: 18.5 inches 
Head Circumference: 31.5 cm
Abgar Score: 1 min - 8, 5 min - 9 (pulse, reflexes, breathing, muscles, complexion)