Need a Doula in San Antonio?

NEWBORN JAUNDICE

Brace yourselves, this one is cool! (to a young mother at least! *grin*)

I had one of those “now no one can tell me that Essential Oils don’t work” experiences, and just had to share.

One of my college roommates had a baby (her fifth) the Friday of convention. (that makes her two weeks old tomorrow, kind of important to know that.)

On Friday of last week, she came into town (she lives in a small town an hour away from here,) to have her “well baby” visit.

*Note* This is not a natural woman. She and I are really like oil and water when it comes to…well almost everything. We are, amazingly, the best of friends despite our vast differences, so she patiently puts up with my ‘radical ramblings.’ We share religions and both are very spiritual. (I was supposed to act as doula for her at the birth, but she allowed the Dr. to induce her under the contrived thought that she has fast labors and she lives an hour away from the hospital…*sigh*)

The baby was horribly jaundiced at this one-week visit. Her billirubin level was 21.6.

The Dr. told Shirley that brain damage occurs at 25 and that she would have to leave her baby at the hospital. They then told her that while they had room for the baby, that there was not room for her to stay, and that she would have to leave her baby. She adamantly refused, reminding them that she was breastfeeding, and told them that there must be another way.

The hospital staff finally relented and agreed that if she would stay in town, that they would loan her a billirubin light and blanket. She took it and went immediately to her sister’s house a few miles from the hospital and plugged it in to see if it would help.

She called me in a panic. I went over with my Peace & Calming and my White Angelica. I am out of Trauma Life, or would have taken that too. I got there and listened while she cried and stressed over her new angel. (I put Peace & Calming on before I walked in, under the thought that she might not let me put any of the oils ON her, so at least she could smell it. I was right.) She refused all offers of oils because they might make the baby not want to nurse. I didn’t argue.

She asked me for advice, and I said that what I would do would be to pray and ask Heavenly Father to tell her what to do to help the baby, and reminded her that as a mother, she is ENTITLED to divine guidance, because they are HIS children too.

She thanked me and said that just talking had made her much calmer, and that she felt better (Peace & Calming, anyone? *grin*).

The next morning, the baby’s billirubin count had climbed to 22, despite staying in the blanket except while nursing. Shirley commented that she was looking sicker.

I asked if she had prayed and she said ‘yes, but nothing is coming.’ I told her to listen, and accept the answer, even if it was confusing to her.

(She had felt for a few days that the baby needed a chiropractic adjustment, but her Dr REFUSED to allow it, so now she was desperate.)

My phone rang at 10:30 that night. Shirley said: “I have an embarrassing question to ask.” I said, “Shoot!”

After hemming and hawing for a minute and me assuring her that we had gone thru enough together that I would not be offended at whatever it was…*smile* she finally asked:

“Do you know what an enema is?”

I about died laughing! I said. “Of course I know what an enema is, my whole family uses them when we are sick!”

“Oh, then you know how to give one?”

“Of course!”

“To a baby?”

“Of course!” I said.

Quiet on the line…”Well, that is my answer and I have no idea what to do.”

I then told her how to give a baby an enema with a nasal aspiration bulb and she asked if I would come over after church the next day and help her if she didn’t have the courage to do it that night. I said, “Of course!”

After church, (I broke the Sabbath, but it was a case of “ox in a mire” in my opinion) I went to a drug store and got the best enema bag I could find and headed over (with every oil I have and my Essential Oil Desk Reference in hand…and a prayer in my heart that she would let me use them).

I got there and she started gushing…”I did it, and she felt better, I could tell! She was so patient, and felt such relief, I am so glad I did it!”

I asked her what the baby’s poop had looked like and she told me it was still meconium (sp?). AT TEN DAYS OLD!!!

My babies are pooping mustard like, breast milk poop at 48 hours old at the most! We talked about it and she agreed that her others had cleared their meconium a lot sooner, and that this might be ‘part of the problem’.

I asked if she wanted me to help her do another enema and she agreed. I then asked if she cared if I used some Essential Oils on the baby, and she (much to my surprise) said “Sure, if you think it will help.”

I was so happy! I suggested that we start with a prayer so that we would have guidance and know what to do to help she and the baby get home sooner. We did.

I rubbed Peace & Calming all over both of us moms first. *grin*

I put Valor on the baby’s feet and then opened my Lavender. I rubbed Lavender on her head and down the bridge of her nose (I had no idea why, it just felt right.) By the time I could get the cap back on my Lavender, the baby’s eyes were FLOWING yellow goop. (I mean flowing, like tears!)

Shirley said, “Wait, this is making her sick, it is bothering her eyes.” I said “NO!!! That is the billirubin! Look!”

And sure enough, it was…just yellow gunk, pouring out the closest outlet it could. It ran for a few minutes (while the baby laid there totally content and cooing, by the way) then slowed down. I suggested we do another enema to see if that would help.

We got our distilled water warm and I put a few drops of Endo Flex (I was out of Juva Flex, and EF was recommended in the EODR) in the water. We sucked up the oil and did another baby enema. She was still passing almost straight meconium. While she worked the water out, I rubbed a few drops of Frankincense down her spine then added some Cedarwood. I then did a raindrop technique-like motion with the feathering and pulling away from the spine. (Super gently, no one attack me!)

We then put Release on her liver and Lavender all over her belly (two or three drops of each).

We put Endo Flex on her feet and Rosemary on her back.

When we took that diaper off, she had urinated so much that the whole diaper was almost orange! The billirubin was just FLOWING out of this tiny body!

We did one more enema and that one almost looked green instead of like black tar.

I asked her what oils she wanted to keep, and she chose Rosemary and Endo Flex and Lavender. She rubbed them on the baby all evening and whenever she woke to nurse.

Okay, really long story…but the next morning, Shirley took the baby to the Dr. to check her levels and they were down to 15! He told her that if she stabilized there, that she could go home the next day.

On Tuesday morning, her levels were DOWN again, (to 14) and she got to go home on Tuesday!

Used with permission. Names have been changed. For more information about essential oils, contact me or visit http://www.buyessentialoils.org.

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