Today Jackson is 1 week old. Most of his life thus far has been spent in the hospital. I feel so awful for him, although I'm sure I am not alone in this as I watch other NICU parents trudge through the hallways of the unit, worried and weary. Jackson is definitely one of the healthiest babies in the NICU at the moment. I feel like I can't complain about our situation, because we have been so blessed with this being the only complications he faced at birth.
Jaundice (also known as hyperbilirubinemia) is really not a serious problem unless it is left untreated at high levels. It is fairly common, effecting about 1 and 3 newborns. It is definitely more commonly seen in preemies, but not limited to them alone. For those of you who are not familiar, or who know very little about Jaundice; it is a yellowish discoloration of the skin, the membranes over the whites of the eyes and other mucous membranes caused by increased levels of bilirubin in the blood. Bilirubin is a substance that is made when the body breaks down old red blood cells. Phototherapy is the most common treatment for Jaundice. This consists of one or more high powered lamps as well as something called a biliblanket, which is basically a strip of blue lights that the baby is laid on. The strange eyewear you see him wearing in the pictures is important - it protects his eyes from harmful and permanantely damaging rays given off by the lamps, (much like goggles for a tanning bed). Phototherapy treatment is used for a few days until the liver is mature enough to handle the bilirubin on its own.
Jackson entered this unit with a bili-reubin level of 22, which is pretty significant as babies are sometimes hospitalized for a number as low as 12. It takes days, and in rare cases, sometimes even weeks for these levels to fall even a few points, and once taken off of the phototherapy, those numbers usually rebound a few points. Today, we have been told that his levels are a 10.3 - which is awesome! Dr. Hertz (the NICU Resident Physician) just came in and let me know that it was up to me ultimately, but he'd like to keep him for one more day so that he can be released tomorrow with a level so low that a rebound would not be significant whatsoever.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers again. One more day and we should be out of the woods and able to bring our healthy boy home again...this time to stay.
Jackson loves to be held and more than that, he loves to be held as tight as you can hold him without squishing him. He is a big fan of the pacifier, or his fingers or even the side of his bib if his options are limited. He recognizes Scott's voice and seems very interested when his daddy is talking to him. He doesn't like to be alone, EVER, even when "alone" means sitting in the bouncer while Mommy takes a quick shower. Loud noises don't seem to bother him whatsoever, we can have the TV on, both of us can be talking on the phone and the dishwasher and washing machine all going at the same time and he snoozes right through the noise. He HATES being changed - diaper and clothing, mostly because his temperature naturally runs low and I think he despises the feeling of cold air. He LOVES bath time and totally calms down during a nice warm soak, (like father like son, as Scott takes a bath every single day after work to wind down from his work day). 
