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| Just workin' on my tan, mom! |
It was such a blessing to have a very pro-breastfeeding pediatrician (he was baby E's attending pediatrician when I gave birth at Thomson Medical Centre and seems to work quite closely with my OB/GYN) and it was Dr Teoh who suggested we rent the equipment so that I could still breastfeed baby E at home while he was undergoing phototherapy. The cost of renting the equipment also worked out to be cheaper than getting baby E admitted to the hospital and we could take care of him ourselves rather than being separated and unable to comfort him. Hubby and I took turns watching him to ensure that he was comfortable and that his blindfold didn't shift and expose his eyes to the UV lights. This happened once when the headband became too lose and baby E turned his head to the side and the entire blindfold slipped off, to be fair the instructions do indicate that we need to change the blindfold as soon as the velcro-like ends feel like they are losing their grip. Luckily, baby E was asleep and his eyes were closed. We changed to a new blindfold after that and kept an even closer watch on him.
The biggest challenge was having to leave baby E in the phototherapy equipment at all times other than to breastfeed, change his diaper or give him a bath. It was the hardest 3 days of my life but it paid off because after treatment his jaundice was down to safe levels and he had a clean bill of health from Dr Teoh. What really helped was baby E being sleepy from the jaundice so he was somewhat relaxed and slept most of the time (as you can see in the picture above). I don't know if I would've had the heart to leave him in the equipment if he was crying and yelling like he normally does.
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