A Week in the Life - Blue Light Special

Well, after a long week filled with ups and downs, I am happy to report that some semblance of normality has returned to our home. After a couple days under the bili-lite , Caitlyn was released around 3pm on Saturday afternoon. (Sample baby shown, this pic was most similar to her situation)

Now we're home and working on adjusting her sleep pattern a little. In typical Murphy fashion, she is most lively between the hours of 1-5AM and dead tire between the hours of 6-11AM. This results of course in mom and dad dipping in and out of sleep periodically throughout the night. In reality, it's not that we're in and out of sleep, but rather that we're in some strange sleep "purgatory" if you will; a state which is neither truly asleep nor awake.

Unfortunately the result is that you never really get into a deep sleep, you just don't trust yourself enough. Even when one parent is awake and the other is asleep (i.e. Crystal is feeding her), it's still not enough to be reliable. I find myself falling asleep and waking up every 10-15 minutes freaking out as though I've overslept and late for work.

All that aside, nothing at this point compares to last week's scares. Not to bring that whole fiasco up again, but it's worth noting if only to convey the idea that lack of sleep is fine by me as long as everyone is healthy and happy. I don't need to sleep that much anyway. So all is well ... we're keeping an eye on any jaundice issues (jaundice being the result of too much bilirubin in the blood, hence the blue light), trying to correct the "nipple confusion (right)" caused by her being away from her mother for two days (necessitating bottle feeding), and trying to carry on with lives that were busy pre-Caitlyn. Needless to say, I'm getting to bed slightly earlier than ever before, and my naptime is just as important as hers.

So, without further adieu, I'm off to squeeze some zzzz's and kiss my girls goodnight.

More to come....
Jimmy