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Oklahoma | Man, I've had a similar story with my 10 year old son. He was induced 3 weeks early due to hypertension which is common in first pregnancies. He was fine on weight 7lb 10oz. However the bilirubin levels were 16.8 when we left the hospital. The pediatrician wasn't concerned but the nursing staff clearly was. The pediatrician just told us to put him in the sunlight if we were concerned.
About a day at home and my son was extremely lethargic. Arms limp and orange. Our parental instincts told us this was not right. We called a different pediatrician and he had a home health nurse came to take a blood sample. They got the sample in and done that day. It came back at somewhere around 21 and the pediatrician advised going to the hospital ASAP as brain damage starts at 24.
By the time we get him up there and on lights his levels got to 23.9. Never have I been so terrified as a parent in my life and this was kid number 1 right out of the gate. I'm so glad we listened to our gut and not some over confident Dr. It saved our sons life, at least his normal life.
I should have sued that careless Dr for all the economic and emotional duress but I didn't. The hospital waved their charges for treating the jaundice and the careless Dr waved his fees too. At the time that was good enough.
That pregnancy required my wife on bed rest for 5 months and many visits to specialists and my insurance sucked. Ended up paying $18k out of pocket for the whole thing and that was with a discount for pre-paying delivery costs. If the additional charges hadn't been waved, I'm not sure how much it would have been had they not been waved.
I'm just happy that he has no lasting damage from that rough start. He didn't walk until 18months but he is extremely bright. Reading your post just brought back all those memories. | |
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Liquidity Supernova
