so, we live at the doctor's office

Bennett has been attempting to set some new records in trips to the doctor's office (or perhaps doctors' offices would be more appropriate).  Before we were released from the hospital on May 7th, the pediatrician wanted another bilirubin level done, as apparently little man's levels were a little high the day before.  Depending on the results, we were either going home, or staying a little longer.  They came back at a 12, so we were able to go home, but instructed to go to the office in the morning for another check.



Appointments 1 & 2 - pediatrician and blood lab

Saturday morning (May 8th) we heading to see Dr. E. to have a bilirubin recheck.  We were then sent to a blood lab with the understanding that if the results came back above 15 that Kettering would come to our house to set up a bilirubin blanket.  We were hopeful that this would not happen, but thankful that we wouldn't have to return to the hospital, but could treat it at home. 

When Dr. E called later that afternoon, Bennett's levels were 13.5, so they had gone up, but not into the danger zone.  He wanted me to continue to nurse, but only 10 minutes on each side, and then follow up with an once of formula.  The goal was to get him to the "shooting poop across the room" stage as quick as possible to rid his body of the extra red blood cells. Success!



Appointment 3 - One week checkup

Our pediatrician sees babies for "well check-ups" at one week, two weeks, and then not again until two months (unless your an Alldred, apparently).  We saw Dr. C for Bennett's one week appointment.  She said that his color looked fabulous, which was a relief to hear.  He weighed in at 8lbs 4oz (he came home at 7lbs 11oz), which meant that he was back up to his birth weight (typically a two week goal!)  I wasn't surprised, as both Alex and Kellan gained almost two pounds in their first two weeks home.  (Alex went from 6lbs 13oz to 8lbs 13oz, and Kellan went from 8lbs 12oz to almost 11lbs.)


During his newborn screening at the hospital the doctor noticed Bennett had a "clicking" hip, which meant that his hip joint was loose.  He said that this can be caused by one of two things.  First it can simply be loose ligaments from all of the excess estrogen (that loosens women's ligaments for childbirth), or it could be a problem with the formation of the joint.  Dr. C noticed that it was still loose a week later, so we were referred to Children's for an ultrasound on his hips (thank goodness for the new Children's in Springboro... it saved us some drive time!)



Appointment 4 - Two week check-up

Last Wednesday we went in for Bennett's two week well baby appointment with Dr. C again.  Daniel and I made guesses at what his weight would be.  I guessed 9lbs even, he guessed 8lbs 12oz.  Little man came in at 8lbs 9oz, making him the smallest of all three boys at two weeks.  I was a little concerned that he had only gained 5oz (typically babies gain ~1oz/day at this age), but Dr. C wasn't concerned, as he had already reached birth weight the week before.

Dr. C. felt that his hip was not as loose as it had been the previous week, but still wanted us to go for the ultrasound that was scheduled for the next day.

She also dabbed his belly button with a little silver nitrate, as his cord stump had fallen off, but he still had a nodule that had not completely dried up.



Appointment 5 - What the...

When we got up last Thursday I took Bennett's PJs off to change his diaper and was shocked by his belly button.  Not only was it oozy, (which the silver nitrate had appeared  to dry up) but a big piece of skin had fallen off and he had a VERY red and raw spot. 


Before I called the pediatrician I called Daniel for his opinion (I might tend to over-react... occasionally) on whether to call or not, he agreed that I should.  Luckily they had a AM appointment available so we dropped Alex off at preschool and Kellan and I took Bennett back to see Dr. C. 


Dr. C. said that she had never seen this happen before, but his baby skin is so sensitive that the silver nitrate ate/burned the skin off.  Poor little munchkin :(  She prescribed an antibiotic ointment (to the tune of $110... thank goodness for insurance!) to prevent infection since it was so close to his explosive, unpredictable bottom half.

A week later I am happy to say that his belly button is completely healed up.

Later that day...

Appointment 6 - Ultrasound

That afternoon was his hip ultrasound, which I really felt was precautionary at this point.  (Along with the dr. feeling it was tighter, he didn't have any of the risk factors.)  Friday morning I was relieved when a nurse called from the peds office, thinking they had a nurse call because everything was normal.  In reality, the nurse called to give us information about the pediatric orthopaedic surgeon they want us to see because the ultrasound was abnormal.  And that is all of the info we have at this point... well, except for what I found on Google, which is usually a bad idea.

This leads us to appointment 7 tomorrow morning.  I'll update when we know more!