Jaundice in newborn 3 weeks old

Hi all, #pleasehelp #advicepls I recently gave birth to my third child. Been going back and forth to poly for her jaundice. It’s definitely gone down over the weeks just that it’s a little slow. Last check by blood test yesterday was 162. Two weeks ago it was 216 by skin test. I skipped going for awhile because of other commitments so only followed up yesterday and baby was at 26 days. Based on the results, the doctor said will need to come back tomorrow to do 2 blood tests. Jaundice and liver test, to check if its a liver problem. She’s basically doing good. Feeding, peeing and pooping well. Apart from her jaundice, I don’t find any other symptoms relating to liver problem. I’m just feeling so distraught right now because the doctor mentioned having to go to hospital for further testing etc. which is so heartbreaking because, who loves to see their baby gets poked for blood so many times right? I would really love to hear if anyone has any similar experiences whereby it wasn’t liver issues but just prolonged jaundice? I am fully feeding breastmilk by bottle so I can monitor how much she drinks. I would only continue direct latching once we clear her jaundice. I need assurances because I got so emotional to hear of the possibility that my child could have liver problems and would need to undergo surgery. Btw I have tried traditional methods like suntanning, yellow flower bath etc. and still doing so till date. Appreciate any responses!

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I feel you, mommy 🥺 I want to share my experience but I hope you don’t follow me cause I realise that I was too worried about my baby and hurt her cause she had done blood test 12x for 8 weeks (PEH, Poly and KKH) 😩😫😢😭 her jaundice level was 289 and done phototherapy for 3 days 2 night, it was going down but after one week going up again..it was breastfeeding jaundice and my breastmilk didn’t enough so i mix with formula milk, yellow flower bath, suntanning although not frequently cause of most of the time raining. i done all the test and the result was okay and no problem with the liver..the doctor said jaundice could be longer until 2 months or 3 months as long as the baby was active, drink well, often poo and pee. My baby’s jaundice gone away at 8 weeks.. For peace of mind, you could do the test for liver problem, if the result doesn’t have liver problem but still jaundice..don’t worry, still feed her on demand cause jaundice will be go away although it takes time.. Virtual hug for you, mommy..your beautiful daughter will be alright❤️

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3y ago

Thank you so much for your assuring words. To wait out 8 weeks is so long. Every day I’m filled with worry. I don’t have peace of mind selagi she’s not discharged for jaundice. It is so heartbreaking to see her get poked for blood. I went to the last check up, they did the liver test and said the numbers are normal. Not indicating of liver problem. However her jaundice level did go up slightly (162 > 168). Still worrisome for me. The doctor said its most likely breastmilk jaundice and I shouldn’t stop giving her bm but I thought try and give her formula. I got Karihome for her since she had some sensitivity to cow’s milk formula before when I tried to supplement her with formula in the first week (while I built up my bm supply). My breastmilk is a lot now and I feel I am overwhelming myself. I thought just give her Karihome for these few days but it seems she drinks lesser of the milk (not as much as she drinks my bm). Tmr is my next appointment so I hope I get good news. Appreciate yo

Super Mum

If the current levels 162 and going down, I wouldn’t worry:) just let her drink lots of milk (of course, feed on demand. No need to overfeed), and that’s pretty much all you need to do. No need for suntanning (she may get sun burned) and flower baths. They routinely just do a liver function test after 3-4 weeks, but most of the time, the test just shows that this is likely physiological jaundice that will resolve. Both my daughters had jaundice and the levels took about 4-5 weeks to come down to a level where the polyclinic stopped testing. Don’t be distraught ok? It should be okay:)

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3y ago

Thank you so much, its nice to get assurance from others. I’ve since gone to the check up and done the liver test which showed ok results. Thank god. However, I have to go back again tomorrow for another check. Dr said its likely bm jaundice. I just feel like its taking forever to drop and what am I doing wrong? Sigh.

As long as the numbers are going down should be fine! My baby had jaundice passed 30 days. Polyclinic referred me back to hospital to get baby's liver checked. She had so many blood tests done just within those few weeks. In the end all was well. Doctor said may be due to "breastmilk jaundice" which just causes prolonged jaundice in babies. I just made sure to feed my baby every 3 hours. After the doctor cleared her of jaundice (when she was 1.5 months), I fed her on demand.

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3y ago

Thank you for your assurance! My last checkup the numbers went up slightly (162 > 168) however the liver test showed that its not indicating a liver problem. I have to come back tomorrow to test again. May I know how many times you had to go back and forth to hospital?

TapFluencer

my daughter also same, her jaundice went down on the 4th weeks. But her number wasnt so high, it was 150 and became 120 and 110 the 4th weeks already 101 so she never did the liver test but poked for blood test 3times :( if u r breastfeeding, u dont drink or eat so much herbal and ginger first until her jaundice went down. i stop all my herbal thingy n reduce ginger intake and her jaundice auto went down drastically. fyi, i didnt do suntan or flower bath for her.

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3y ago

Thank you for your response. I’m not consuming any herbal foods. So happy to hear yours dropped way faster you didn’t have to do the liver test. She just got poked the other day. They took more blood this time round. Thankfully the results was good but now its just the waiting game of her jaundice level to drop.

my 2 weeks old baby reading is 202, doc recommended consistent feeding according to PD, reading at 250 needs to go for hototherapy and reading at 300 needs to admit hospital for further treatment my nephew which is one month old had Liver check and everything was fine, doc said it may be breastmilk jaundice you may want to seek another PD advise if u have concern

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3y ago

Thank you for your response. Indeed I’ve since went for the check up and liver test was negative, dr said bm jaundice. But levels still high so need to come back and do another test tmr. I really hope to get happy news tmr.

Super Mum

Hi mummy, my lo also had similar situation and was referred to KKH liver specialist after her second month. She had to follow up there every 6 monthly till she was 2 year old and was cleared totally without any surgery or medications.

3y ago

Yes, it was because the direct bilirubin level was high.