Sharon writes,

<< I guess one of the reasons I am so worried is that the last time I saw a
 baby that looked like a pumkin, she was about 2 weeks old and already had
 kernicterus by the time she came into our emergency room.   >>

Did this baby die?  The only way kernicterus (staining of the CNS tissue with
bilirubin as it gets high enough to cross the blood/brain barrier) can be
absolutely diagnosed is on autopsy (or brain biopsy, I assume).  Though there
are some symptoms that would lead one to think that there might be
kernicterus, such as severe neurologic excitation or depression, including
tremors, twitching, convusions, opisthotonos, a high pitched cry, hyptonia,
diminished deep tendon reflexes, and thea bsence of Moro and sucking reflexes.
Mortality may reach 50%.  Sequelae include mental retardation, minimal brain
dysfunction, cerebral palsy, delayed or abnormal motor development, hearing
loss, ataxia, athetosis, perceptual problems, and behavioral disorders.   What
ended up happening to this baby?  Did anyone know why she had it?

Jan Barger -- in Wheaton where the sun finally came out, and my daughter
SHOULD be getting home from college soon.  YEAH!

Do you have any idea what the bilirubin was?  This used to be more common
before the advent of RhoGam when babies were born with erythroblastosis
fetalis, but in all my years of nursing, I've never really seen a baby that
was diagnosed with kernicterus.  It's a scary thing.....