The original plan was to pop over to a friend’s house this afternoon, but that had to change – I’m sure it won’t be the last time either.
When the midwife called, she was a little concerned how yellow Jessica appeared and referred us to the Childrens’ Assessment Unit (CAU), at the East Surrey Hospital (ESH). Jessica’s also been a bit listless and not taking a full 30 minutes to feed. A quick phone to my parents was made to arrange a lift. (Our car being written off definitely happened at the wrong time.) Thank goodness they’re around and willing to taxi us about!
The midwife did suggest that we put Jessica as close to the balcony door as possible, to maximise her exposure to daylight. Coupled with Anna’s (the friend we were supposed to be seeing, who has 4 kids of her own, ranging from 7 yrs to 4 months, so she’s an old hand) advice to put Jessica on a white sheet, which will relect the light back onto her, we will try this in the coming days.
We were met at the appointed time, in the CAU, by a nurse who took a few details. Then a doctor saw us and asked a few more questions about the birth and feeding patterns to get a bit more of a background. Jessica was a good as gold while he took a few blood samples from one of her hands. I was able to hold her other hand to re-assure her and she hardly struggled and didn’t cry.
The test results came back and she’s well below the level to cause concern, so there is no need for her to be kept in for white light treatment. Let’s hope the sky in the next few days is not so overcast.
Anyway, we’re all back in the flat now and Jessica has just had a good feed. She’s in her carry cot by the balcony door, where her Mum’s taking a few photos of her. I’ll insert one in here before I publish this post.
Tomorrow we plan (is it wise to try to make any plans…?) to visit our friend and half her brood. Her husband, Phil, won’t be there but I hope to catch up with him at the weekend, for a pint to belatedly wet the baby’s head.
Jessica’s a week old now, but it really feels like longer. I mean that in an entirely good way, there’s been so much change.
We’ll hopefully post again tomorrow, with details of her second outing and anything else that happens.
Ian