Moving on

Once we arrived at CHOP, my sister and I stayed with Brooke as she settled in to the NICU. By this point she was looking very yellow in tone, and was becoming jaundice. This occurs when high levels of a pigment in the blood called bilirubin cause the skin to look yellow. When old red blood cells break down, one of the byproducts they create is bilirubin. Everyone's blood contains bilirubin, which is normally removed from the blood by the liver and then eliminated in the stool. The doctors think that my blood type being B and all of my children being AB, has caused my body to build up 'A' antibodies which caused Brooke's condition— so the pigment built up in her blood and her skin looked yellowish.

To help bring her bilirubin count down the dr's use phototherapy. Brooke was placed under blue "bililights" lights — naked in a bassinet, with her eyes covered. Due to this course of treatment we were not allowed to hold her, with the exception of when she was breastfeeding. Brooke needed to spend as much time under the lights as possible.

CHOP was very accommodating and found my sister and I room for the night. The next day the Dr.'s performed another ultrasound which was reviewed by the surgical team. They were still unsure of the origin of her cyst and ordered an MRI for the next day.

My sister finally was relieved by my parents (who were taking care of Logan), who were then relieved my Mike- who had been caring for the big kids and also working. I spent that night @ CHOP on my own, struggling to stay with Brooke, yet be there for my other children. The next day Brooke's bilirubin finally dropped low enough for the Dr's to order the lights taken down. Finally she could be held. The MRI was this day as well. Brooke was sedated for the procedure- as she would need to be perfectly still. That night I left Brooke at CHOP and returned home for the first time since giving birth. It was nice to see the boys and give them all a hug! The next morning I could not wait to get back to CHOP, this day my dad was on duty again. We got there around 9 am. The surgeons reviewed the test and decided the cyst continued to present as benign. They released Brooke and requested she return in 4 weeks for a repeat ultrasound and to meet with the surgeon. She needed to remain there for the day in hopes her jaundice would continue to improve befor the NICU dr.'s would release her. Her final bilirubin count was down, and the NICU Dr.'s decided at 6:00pm that they would allow her to go home. My Dad happily drove us home. I was amazed that I finally was able to dress this little one. She actually looked like a girl in pink!