Jul 29 2008
My Baby Is Orange!
Gavin was born a little jaundiced, which means that his skin has a yellow color to it. Gavin seems to be a bit on the orange side though, a good look for him, since his head is about the size of an orange. You can see it clearly when compared to the pasty white of my arm in the photo below. Jaundice is fairly common in new babies, and it’s supposed to go away on its own after a week or so.  Â
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The nurse suggested that we put him in direct sunlight for an hour a day to help clear out the bilirubin in the skin that causes the color abnormality. We’ve been putting him in a sunny spot by our kitchen window, being careful that he doesn’t get too warm. The pediatrician said that the color will leave his eyes last, but to keep an eye on him as his kidneys filter out the excess bilirubin.
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I have to say, I usually look at babies and think ‘well that one looks just like all the other babies I’ve seen’ (something you do up until you’ve had one of your own I believe), but Gavin is definitely a cutie. Orange or not!
Dude, there’s a bilirubin light they’re supposed to stick him under in the hospital. It’s basically just a UV light, but it does the job breaking down the bilirubin same as the sun.
Which brings up… doesn’t glass block UV naturally? Or is that just “Low-E” or UV protected glass like in cars?
Anyway, I’m sure he’s a healthy shade of pink by now… just odd that they didn’t stick him under the blilrubin light. Must be an Indiana vs North Carolina thing.
Nephronically yours,
Carl
Hey, keep yer nephrons to yerself, Carl!
I think that only the “Low-E” glass blocks UV. All of our windows are “Low-E” (replaced the rest of them last year), so it’s possible that putting Gavin in front of the window isn’t doing any good…
At any rate, he’s looking much better now. We haven’t put in the sunlight for a week or so.
Michael