All About Bryan and Dylan

Although Dylan was discharged fr the hospital after 2 days of phototheraphy, he continued to have jaundice and I had to bring him in to the hospital every other day or so for checkup. His bilirubin level remained at around 17o++.

Eventhough the level was not alarmingly high (>250, have to be admitted), his PD decided to do a urine bag teston day 10. The test came back +ve for urine infection with heavy growth of E Coli bacteria in the urine.

There was a possibility of contamination in the urine as it was a bag test. So PD repeated the test by obtaining a catheter urine sample. Same results. So it seemed that the urinary infection was the cause of his prolonged jaundice.

He was put on antibiotics immediately - Augmentine - 1ml 3x a day. 1.5 days after he started the antibiotics, my good baby became a cranky baby. His 3-4 hour sleep schedule was gone, and I had a baby who wants to be held constantly, and of course fed constantly. I called PD, and PD says it could be due to wind in the tummy as the antibiotics will kill both the good & bad bacteria. She prescribed colic drops but it did not help at all. So she concluded that he may not be feeling well due to the infection. I was asked to breastfeed as much as possible, as my breastmilk could possibly be the main reason why he was doing so well even with his infection. And bf him i did, constantly…

I was asked to monitor his temperature to make sure his condition do not become worse. Luckily it did not.

Day 15: I brought him for another urine test and the test showed greatly improved results. Bacteria presence have decreased tremendously. But PD was still concerned about the presence of white blood cells in his urine - a sign that the infection is not fully gone yet.

I was asked to continue the antibiotics and we took Dylan in for another round of checkup yesterday. The tests came back this morning that he is fully cleared from the infection.

Initially, I was so shocked to learned that he had urinary infection as there was no symptoms at all. He was feeding well, sleeping well. Gaining weight as he should. No fever. He appeared like any other healthy baby.

PD was surprised too. As considering his level of infection, most infants would have developed high fever, would be restless, refuse to feed..etc etc. But the fact that he seemed well is a very good sign. It is a sign that the infection has not spread to the blood and that we were lucky that it was detected early. We had an ultrasound done as well to make sure that his kidneys were not infected, and we were glad to know that everything is well.

Urine infection in newborns if not treated promptly could easily spread to the bloodstream and from there it could infect the kidney and cause scarring. Kidney scarring could lead to permanent kidney damage and other complications such as high blood pressure in the future.

I asked the PD if Dylan’s infection was due to poor hygiene - something that I did not do right. PD assured me that it has nothing to do with hygiene. And there was nothing that I could have done to prevent it.

What’s next? We had to keep him on preventive medicine for the next 6 weeks to make sure that the infection do not come back. He has to be given trimethoprim once a day and he is scheduled for another kidney and bladder ultrasound in 6 weeks time. This is to check to see if he has Vesicoureteral Reflux. If he has none, that’s the end of the story. But if he has, it’s gonna be another loooong story. We are crossing our fingers that all will turn out well in the scan in 6 weeks time.

I am just glad that things are ok for now, and are counting my blessings that the infection was detected and treated promptly.

This shows that newborn jaundice is not something that one should take lightly. During one of my visits to the PD, I met a mother who recommended me to a Chinese physician for jaundice. I smiled and thanked the mother but I will never consider traditional medicine for my newborn baby. You never know what the Chinese physician is giving the child and I have read too many horror stories about these treatment.

So, always seek professional treatment for your child.