SaRaH & NeoNaTaL JauNDiCe... :(

So, today morning, 3 Jururawat Masyarakat from Klinik Kesihatan Teluk Intan came over to my parents-in-law's house in Kampung Bahagia, Teluk Intan to do their first postnatal visit of our Sarah & my wife, Intan. And they noted that our Sarah's skin looked yellowish/jaundice. I myself didn't notice that. So, they asked us to bring Sarah to Klinik Kesihatan Teluk Intan in the afternoon after Friday prayer for further check-up.

So, we brought her to the clinic in the afternoon. Her heel was pocked to get blood from her capillary. Then, the blood sample was sent to the lab. Few minutes later, the result was ready. Her TSB reading was 11.8. Since Intan's blood group is O+ve, so Sarah is considered high risk as we still don't know her blood group. If her blood group is similar to Intan, then only she's considered low risk. 11.8 is considered high for high risk babies, where the limit for Day 2 of life babies with high risk is 11. So, Sarah was referred to Neonatal Ward at Hospital Teluk Intan for phototherapy for at least 3 hours, repeat TSB & check her Blood Group.

Neonatal Jaundice chart at the Clinic

So, we brought Sarah to the Neonatal Ward at Hospital Teluk Intan as what we were told. When we arrived in the ward, one of the staff nurses came & took Sarah's clothes off & left her with only her diaper. And then, she was put under a phototherapy lamp. Sarah was a bit uncomfortable being under that lamp & she was deeply hungry. She kept crying & crying. So, instead of 3 hours, she was under the lamp for less than an hour. The rest of the time, she was breastfeeding. So, after 3 hours, her blood was taken. Her repeated TSB was 12.6. A bit raised. But luckily her Blood Group is O+ve, similar to Intan. So, she's considered low risk & her limit for today is actually 13, not 11. So, she didn't need to be admitted, but we have to repeat her TSB tomorrow morning at Klinik Kesihatan Teluk Intan. Me, Intan & my parents-in-law felt sooooo relieved. We were advised to breastfeed her as much & as frequent as possible so that her jaundice will disappear faster.