I needed to write these down before I totally forget:

Babies over 8 1/2 pounds have to have their sugar tested at birth and then an hour later.  We’ve had three over 8 1/2 pounds (are you surprised) and we knew Malachi would be number four.  Ace and Bryant both had low blood sugars after their one hour.  So, we were able to talk to the pediatric nurse before hand and told her what we wanted to do should his level be low enough for them to want to give him formula (our wants were for us to give it to him in a syringe and she was totally good with that).  His level at birth AND an hour later was super!  No formula…which was probably good because the circus of nursing when numb from the chest down did not need to be repeated so quickly.

My babies are all jaundice.  We always thought it was because they are breastfed and we believe I make skim milk.  They get really jaundice.  Not critical and need lights.  But, usually about 8 to 12 hours after birth, they look like they’ve been overcooked in the tannin beds.  So, we were prepared.  When day dawned on Saturday, Mark opened the blinds and sat with Malachi near the window.  And we looked at him and realized he was white.  Very white.  No jaundice in sight.  By the evening, we were all perplexed and finally mentioned something to the nurse.  She said that his bilirubin levels were really low and she started telling us all the reasons for jaundice babies.  We stopped her when she mentioned that baby’s blood was A or B and mom’s was O or O negative.  I fall in to the O and negative category.  And all six of the others are A, B or some combination.  Except Malachi.  He’s O positive!  No worries with jaundice.  And it was very weird bringing home a “white” baby instead of a yellow one!  I, however, still had to get the Rhogam shot.