Alex turned a little yellow on Friday, which happened to be the day we first visited the doctor for a checkup. The doctor took a sample of his blood, and found Alex had jaundice. This is very common among infants, and it usually passes on its own in a few days. A little over 50% of all newborns turns a little yellow. It is caused by a substance called bilirubin, that is released when the liver breaks down hemoglobin. Usually the excess bilirubin leaves the body in the feces, but in newborns that system has not kicked fully into gear yet, and as a result the bilirubin levels may be elevated.

If the level of bilirubin becomes too high for a prolonged period of time it may be unhealthy to the baby. Just to be on the safe side, the doctor recommended treatment. This treatment consists of exposing the baby to lots of light. The blue light will break down the yellow bilirubin. Usually, this treatment can be done at home, if so-called bililights are available. Unfortunately, they were all gone when we needed one, so to get the treatment Alex had to go to the hospital. This was a setback for us, since we really liked having Alex at home.

Soon after Cindy and Alex checked into the hospital, Alex was put under and on top of a light, as you can see in the pictures below. To protect his eyes, he had to wear a set of highly fashionable goggles. Alex looked cool with the blue light under his back.



Alex's bilirubin levels dropped steadily during Saturday, and he was less yellow, but he still needed to be under the light at least one more night.

To prevent her breast from getting to overfilled with milk, Cindy pumped some milk and put it in a bottle, giving Rob the opportunity to feed his son for the first time.

On Sunday morning, after two nights under the bililights in the hospital, Alex looked a lot less yellow. He also seemed unmoved by all the hubbub around him. As long as he got his food every hour or two, he was happy and slept through most things. The only thing that was really upsetting to him was the drawing of blood from his heel every twelve hours.

On Sunday, Alex's bilirubin levels had dropped by 25% in total, and the doctor thought is was save to take him home again, especially because a biliblanket had finally become available. This made it possible to continue treating his still elevated bilirubin levels in the comfort of home. So, after being in the hospital for a little under two days Alex and Cindy went home again on Sunday! We were all very happy to be together at home again!