high billirubin befote bris

malky800

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 10:46 am

Anyone has experience with severe jaundice above 17 and the Bris was pushed o off?
My doctor is not putting him under lights. He wants to wait it out.
like that, how soon does the billy tend to drop?
Like 1 point a day or does it jump, like from 17 to 14 in one day?

working hard

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 11:22 am

Once it starts going down, it often goes down very quickly. I know someone whose level was too high the morning of the bris. That afternoon, they went to the Doctor. He tested it and it was 11! They quickly called the Mohel and did the Bris in the Doctor's office minutes before Shkiah!

the world's best mom

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 1:58 pm

My ds was jaundiced for 3 weeks. He was under lights for a day, but mostly because it was Erev Shavuos and memorial day weekend, so we wouldn't be able to monitor his levels and they were pretty much high enough to need lights already. The lights lowered it but then it went up again, though not as high. Once it goes down, it usually goes quickly.

Ds had his Bris at one month old because our Mohel holds to wait a week from when it goes down past a certain level.

MommytoB

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 2:17 pm

It can go down significantly over night. The important thing to focus on is hydration. Nurse (bottle feed) frequently. Jaundiced babies are sleepy and you will need to wake him up very 1-2 hours to be successful. My doctor recommended supplementing when my dd was at 19.6. They would have hospitalized at 20. I pumped and after nursing gave her a bottle. Over night the numbers dropped. I think to around 16 but would need to go back and look (I belove I posted about this in the past). They basically poop out the jaundice! Bilirubin is eliminated through pooping so frequent feeding helps with that.

Iymnok

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 2:20 pm

There are two types of jaundice that can occur in newborns. One that peaks at day 4 or 5, the other starts to go up at about a week. Sometimes one merges into the other. the second is not halachikly newborn jaundice so after it goes down we wait a week. Either way sunlight helps lower the count. Expose the baby's chest and stomach to direct sunlight, taking care that he wont burn.

amother

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 2:37 pm

My babies were jaundiced, and we found out that sometimes jaundice is caused by a difference in the baby's and the mother's blood type. I stopped nursing for a few days and my boys all had their brissim on time - pumped and dumped and then resumed nursing after the bris. If your baby has a different blood type than yours, try it!

malky800

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 2:56 pm

Let's say the numbers are going down, you are saying I can get from 17-14 quickly?
So we might be short on time to prepare a Bris or might take time.
The mohel is only giving us that weeks warning if he hits 19 first which I hope we don't.

amother

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 3:21 pm

Mazel tov to you!

My baby had jaundice that was caused by 2 blood incompatibilities - rh negative and A, O incompatibility. If either of those is the case by you, it has nothing to do with nursing. Breast feeding jaundice is something else so it doesn't help to stop nursing.

It would be a good idea to know what is causing the jaundice. Do you have blood incompatibilities?
Is he eating well? Because they say that to get rid of the yellowness they need to eat and make dirty diapers over and over.

My son was admitted to the hospital at 17.9 bili levels to be put under lights.
he was also too weak to nurse, so I pumped and gave it to him from a bottle.

Would you consider getting a bili blanket even though you doc doesnt want to put him under lights?
There are rentals and gemachs in Bklyn, I dont know where you are located.

Signed,
Someone who spent the pesach seder in the hospital 4 days post partum... (and lived to tell the tale:)
PS his bris was a week late so we got to have fresh bagels for the bris on isru chag instead of matza and fruit... there is a silver lining in every cloud!!

Miri7

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 4:00 pm

I had 3 jaundiced kids. The dr ordered lights for all three.

Please do NOT put the newborn in sunlight. Use the bililights if light is needed. Do your best to nurse or feed like crazy - that washes the bilirubin out.

IME once the levels began to drop they continued to drop, faster with some babies than others. The levels dropped faster with the stonger feeders.

Talk with the mohel and doctor. If using a caterer, hall, etc, then find out how much notice they need. You may end up making a bris on short notice. You may end up making a quick small bris and then hosting everyone to celebrate the baby a couple days later. Unusual, but all that matters is a healthy little babe.

Mazal tov!!!!!!!!

amother

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 4:26 pm

Give him a lot a lot to drink. Not only nursing, water bottles too. Also, even though the Dr isn't putting him under lights you can keep him in light. Sunlight is best so keep him near a window but regular lightbulb light helps too. Put him to sleep with the light on all night (it won't bother him - they have it on all night in the hospital nursery too). we were under pressure to have the brit on time - the drinking and lights all night (day too) did the trick. Like every new parent, we had planned for him to sleep in our room but those first nights he slept alone in the light Idea

amother

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 5:10 pm

I'm not big on segulos, but the night before my son's (already cancelled) bris, we put some coral reef and esrogim in his crib. The next morning, we washed him negel vasser and then took him to get tested. His numbers had dropped and we got to make the bris on time.

No source for any of the above, and you can chalk it up to coincidence if you like... But my son had his bris on time!

amother

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 5:26 pm

My son was checked by mohel and we prepared the bris. We saw him yellow and took him to get tested he qas over 17. Mohel cancelled the bris right there.
He ended having the bris three weeks later. I put hin near the window for daylight. He bled a lot after the bris and ended up needing a transfusion. We still don't know why that happened.

yidishmamma

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 8:28 pm

malky800 wrote:

Has anyone heard this?
If it the day of the bris the mohel will do the bris with a high billirubin of up to 15.
After that it has to be lower than 13?

It all depends on the mohel and how strict they r with jaundice . Our mohel wudnt mAke bris by 15 even day of bris. Once it's pushed off he waits till goes down to 7-8. That being said I have 3 boys and no on time bris so far . Mazel tov and good luck!

amother

Tue, Dec 02 2014, 9:50 pm

It is not true that once the numbers go down they don't go back up. All of my kids had high bilirubin and two of them had the numbers go back up after going down - because they had used intervention, one lights and one the biliblanket. From what I understood from the pediatrician, these are artificial means to bring down the bilirubin, and once stopped, can stop bringing it down. To the OP, my son was put under the lights when he tested at 22.5, and my daughter got the blanket at 18 only b/c I begged my pediatrician, b/c it was going to be Yom Tov. My other kids went to 17 and it went down on it's own with nursing and time. But it is very sad to get all of those blood tests Sad

amother

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 9:49 am

I did the lights by my boys and they had the bris on time. BUT I am very wary of these lights and what they do. Next boy I plan to not use them. Go with sunlight, castor oil, and frequent feedings.

Ruchel

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 11:23 am

I was told not under strong sun, but in a very light room.
Some don't seem to really test for it (?). I pushed for a blood test and the (Jewish) lab was like me, they let you out of hospital so it can't be that bad.
I seemed to remember 50 as the cut off - my husband said 60 to 65 which is also when they allow you to go out of hospital. Mohel dependent, strenght dependent, baby dependent.

SomebodyElse

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 11:52 am

amother wrote:

Give him a lot a lot to drink. Not only nursing, water bottles too.

Please don't do this without checking with your pediatrician.

From http://www.whattoexpect.com/fi.....px...

Quote:

Giving water to a baby can actually harm her. Unless she’s very sick, a baby who satisfies her appetite (and her need to suck) with bottles of water will miss out on the nutrition she needs from her feedings. If done regularly, this can cause weight loss, and in the case of breast-fed babies, it can decrease your breast-milk supply. Giving water to a baby in large amounts can even lead to oral water intoxication, a condition in which the electrolytes (such as sodium) in a baby’s bloodstream become diluted, inhibiting normal bodily functions and leading to dangerous problems such as low body temperature or seizures.

invisiblecircus

Thu, Dec 04 2014, 5:30 pm

amother wrote:

My baby had jaundice that was caused by 2 blood incompatibilities - rh negative and A, O incompatibility.

Signed,
Someone who spent the pesach seder in the hospital 4 days post partum... (and lived to tell the tale:)
PS his bris was a week late so we got to have fresh bagels for the bris on isru chag instead of matza and fruit... there is a silver lining in every cloud!!

How does that work? I'm blood type A negative and my children are AB positive and O positive. Neither of them were jaundiced. My son's bilirubin level never went higher then 6.

I also spent both sedarim in hospital (without my husband,) my daughter was born erev pesach.