Sophia was born with cephlahematoma (English translation: a pool of blood between her skull and the scalp). Technically, she wasn’t born with it. It was caused by her being nine pounds and squeezing through my “birth canal”, which resulted in me needing stitches in two places and her looking like a descendant of Joseph Merrick (The Elephant Man) for the last three weeks. The cephlahematoma wasn’t too bad right after her birth but it grew on the left side of her head for a couple days, along with her pumpkin-like jaundice look. The Biliruban test she took at the hospital wasn’t too high, but because of her pumpkin color at her first doctor appointment (October 1st) we were sent to the hospital again for another test. I held her while they milked her tiny little foot for blood. She screamed and protested I had tears running down my face. 
The results came back with a 17.3. I don’t really know how that rates, but the doctor said if she had that result at birth he would have had her put under lights. He explained that her tiny body had to break down the pooled blood in head and that was what was causing her jaundice. He also said that at that point she was probably at the peak of it and it should start to go down, but that it would take longer because I’m breastfeeding her. He then back peddled a few steps and said that I shouldn’t stop breastfeeding because of it – it’s just that it does take longer. I didn’t ask, but I’m guessing that the difference is because breast milk doesn’t have the high levels of iron that is put into formula.
The doctor told us to keep an eye on her (like he really had to tell us) and to call in daily to let him know if there are any changes either way. We didn’t see any change at all during the next two days, so on the 4th we were sent back to the hospital to have Sophia’s foot milked for Biliruban blood once again. This time Kurt held her and she didn’t even wake up while her blood was being extracted. The results came back at 16 – Yay for being on the downhill slope!
On the 11th, Sophia had her first baby wellness appointment. Her birth weight was nine pounds even. At the prior doctor appointment (Oct 1st) she had gone down to eight pounds and twelve ounces, now she had not only gained her birth weight back but also added two ounces! The doctor said that Sophia’s color looked much better, but neither Kurt nor I could tell. We were more concerned that her head still had that squishy lump, which FINALLY subsided just three days ago.