Biliruben - is he the guy who created the sandwich?

We were forewarned, upon arriving at the hospital four weeks early, that our baby might have jaundice, as the liver is the last organ to mature in the womb.  Our doctor dissuaded us from saving the umbilical cord, letting us know there might not be enough to bank.  He  recommended pushing the blood back into the baby's blood stream (just in case the baby was anemic)...the only drawback - pushing the blood back in would result in more red blood cells entering the blood stream, causing jaundice.

Well, jaundice is exactly what our munchkin ended up having.  Sloane was extremely ruddy and the liver hadn't thoroughly flushed her blood leading to deep purple hands and feet.  When they showed me the baby, I presumed they "accidentally" dropped her hands and feet into an inkwell.  (Obviously I was still high from the epidural to think the hospital still used inkwells...)

The best way to show her extreme ruddy coloring is to compare her to Aunt Michelle...

We were told to keep an eye out for the yellowing of her eyes, as well as her skin to turn a "pumpkin-ish" color.  In other words, I gave birth to Rainbow Brite...

The pediatricians recommended the use of bili lights to help flush out the jaundice.  We were okay with this until the nurse informed us Sloane would be sleeping in the nursery (NICU).  The rules were we were allowed to visit every three hours, feeding for one hour, then go away for the next two.  Poor, poor Uncle Fern, who was visiting us, had to deal with my buckets of tears, once the nurse left.  John was quick to point out it was better to have the baby deal with the jaundice now, versus taking her home and having to bring her back.  Okay - we were just a few doors down.

How many babies can say they had a sleepover only 24 hours old?