The fifth week and fighting with joundice....

For my entire life so far, joundice is my second worst enemy after colic. The only reason colic is worse than joundice is because we have nothing to do with it; however, there are medical treatments we can do with joundice. In fact, I have heard about joundice at least once, but I did not really know what joundice was before Erin had it. Thus, let me talk about it.

According to my daughter's pediatrician, Dr. Villamarin, she said joundice is not a disease, but it can cause severe diseases if a necessary treatment is not provided. In general, joundice is the yellowish staining of the skin and sclerae (the whites of the eyes); many things can cause joundice. For adults, joundice could be a signal that warns their health condition. However, for an infant, having a joundice could be either nothing or a minor problem.

Erin had the level of 13.4 for joundice when she was 10 days old. Her level was a little higher than average level, but fortunately it was nothing to worry about. Dr. Villamarin said Erin might get joundice from breastfeeing. Do not get me wrong!!! There is no doubt that breastfeeding is absolutely good and strongly recommended for a baby. I already mentioned how hard breastfeeding was to start for my wife. In general, many infants do not drink enough breast milk for the first time, so they are much more likely to have joundice for a while right after they are born, and so did Erin.

To remove Erin's joundice, our doctor strongly recommended us to put her in the sunshine two or three times a day for 10 to 15 minutes. If her joundice got worse, Erin would get phototherapy which is a treatment with special light for high levels of joundice, but she was not that bad. After putting her in the sunshine for a couple of week, we can hear from Dr. Villamarin that Erin did not have joundice anymore, and finally all of us could smile.

Lastly, I would like to conclude this page by listing several representative treatments:

• Light therapy (phototherapy)
• Intravenous immunoglobulin
• Exchange blood transfusion