Nathan's Parent's First Scare.

In our hospital Nathan stayed with us in the room. He was never taken away to a nursery or left our sides. He was eating regularly and everything seemed fine. As the day we were supposed to leave approached the doctors became concerned over his color and bilirubin level in his blood. Nathan had developed Jaundice, which now we know is common among newborns, and even more common among Asians. Nathan being half Korean was a prime candidate. Nathan was unable to leave on his scheduled check out date, he had to remain in the hospital in the ICU. According to WebMD Jaundice is:

"Jaundice is a condition that makes a newborn 's skin and the white part of the eyes look yellow. It happens because there is too much bilirubin in the baby's blood (hyperbilirubinemia). Bilirubin is a substance that is made when the body breaks down old red blood cells .

Jaundice usually is not a problem. But in rare cases, too much bilirubin in the blood can cause brain damage ( kernicterus ). This can lead to hearing loss, mental retardation, and behavior problems."

As new parent's never having been through this before we of course were terrified. We came home and napped for about an hour then returned to the hospital. We were lucky enough to have my wife's parents come to the house and stay a few days. If you have family around it is a huge help with any newborn, but especially helpful when your baby has to stay in the hospital for some extra time. We spent the next three days mostly at the hospital in the ICU watching Nathan in his tanning bed under his lights. A lot of coffee and newspapers later, Nathan got better and we were able to finally bring him home. The catch was we had to get what is called a Bilirubin Blanket. According to WebMD:

"Babies with jaundice who are otherwise healthy may be treated at home with a type of phototherapy that uses a fiber-optic wrap, usually a blanket or a band. These wraps usually reduce blood bilirubin levels more slowly than standard phototherapy, so generally they are used only for mild jaundice. Sometimes standard therapy and fiber-optic wrap therapy are used together"

The Bilirubin Blanket was delivered to the house and the technichen showed us how to use it. We had to plug it into the wall and wrap the blanket around him. The blanket had a slight claiming humming sound to it and would glow blue like the underside of a car in the Fast and Furious movies. While the home treatment was occurring we had to bring Nathan back to the hospital daily for blood work to see where his bilirubun levels were at. This is where I got my very first taste of being a new father. At the hospital they made us register in every time we went, I would hold Nathan and my wife would do the paperwork. The very first trip to the hospital while my wife was registering Nathan he had his first public blow out. I had to take him into the men's room and well we had to trash the outfit he was in. Twenty minutes later we re-appeared cleaned and ready to roll. After that first episode I knew nothing would ever gross me out again, it's funny as a parent how quickly you become non squeamish.