Today I was discharged from the hospital but Simon wasn’t ready yet. After some bloodwork, his total bilirubin was elevated and he looked a bit yellow (jaundiced) so he needed to stay at least one more night for monitoring. If it keeps on going up, he would need some light therapy. The doctor was also being a bit more cautious because he had lost more than 10% of his birth weight so he needed to start gaining weight again before going home. So we were allowed to stay as “boarders” to take care of him.

Can you tell he is a bit yellow?

Ron and I were both exhausted from being up the night before with him since he wasn’t getting enough food so was constantly awake. We eventually started supplementing the breast feeding with formula using something called a “supplemental nursing system” (SNS) where a small tube is placed next to the nipple and as the baby takes the nipple into his mouth, he also takes in the tube. Formula is dripped into the tube and as the baby sucks, he’s able to pull out formula along with any colostrum or breast milk he’s already getting.

Today was also the day we decided on his name. We had to submit a birth certificate application prior to discharge and since we thought he was going home today, we had to make a decision. Simon has been the front runner for names and Ron’s dad came up his the Chinese name: Wenjie (and no, Simon is not after Simon Cowell of American Idol but from Simon of Alvin and The Chipmunks, he’s the intelligent one!)

Day 5 – March 6, 2010