Abnormal liver function in 10 week old no symptoms

[JRTfan]

I took DD for her 8 week vaccs and GP flagged she looked a bit yellow I didn't think she did and she wasn't really sure but referred us to paed docs. Had to go to hospital for blood test which was absolutely horrendous poor baby was screaming as they pinned her down and took 3 vials of blood. The doctor didn't think she looked jaundiced and she has no symptoms at all but said he has to follow protocol which is obviously fair enough. Results came back slightly abnormal on liver function they have nothing to compare to apparently so have to do another blood test 2 weeks after the 1st which I'm just dreading. I couldn't really clarify exactly what they are worried about as they wouldn't give me an answer just said they need to repeat the bloods she also has to have a scan. Anyone else been in this situation? I really don't want to have to put us both through all that again but obviously will have to if it's what they recommend just seems a bit overkill imo

They need enough information to decide if there is a problem. It's not very nice, but it's not 'overkill', it's monitoring how well your baby's liver is functioning over time.

Also while she didn't look jaundiced to you, she obviously did to the GP hence the referral, which as they suspected has flagged up a potential liver issue. It's really important you do the second round of tests - babies look a lot less jaundiced when they are screaming blue murder! I know it would be nicer to pretend everything is fine and people are overreacting, but there's potentially something serious going on. Best of luck.

@Springadorable thanks for the reply. She wasn't crying when doc examined her and his immediate reaction was 'I am not sure why she's been referred to be honest as she looks fine' she has none of the symptoms listed and is honestly not even the slightest bit yellow I think it must have been the light in the GPs room..I absolutely do not have any issues with them investigating and I'm grateful they are thorough but the taking of blood was honestly very traumatic it took a long time and at one point I thought she was going to pass out. I'm hoping the next time they may numb her hand or something.

@ToriMJ thanks I do get they need to investigate thoroughly and I'm honestly grateful that they do, maybe my experience was a bit unusual as it really was traumatic and I'm usually quite a stoic person. I also just wanted any similar experiences as I'm obviously worried about the outcome aswell despite her having zero symptoms and seeming perfectly healthy.

The tests coming back not totally normal suggest the GP did in fact see something and it wasn’t just the light.

That said, hugs to you, there is nothing worse than watching them try to take blood from your very tiny baby. I found it so traumatic watching it done to my eldest when she was around 12-16 weeks (can’t remember exactly). Though it wasn’t much better with my younger daughter who had a lot of issues between 11-18 months. I discovered, far too late, there are a lot of things that you can do to make it less awful for baby.

Getting a nurse who is used to paediatric cases, having the numbing agent on the arm for long enough beforehand, having her in your lap where she feels safe while they do it and doing anything you can to distract her will help (hard when so tiny I know, for my older baby cat videos on my phone or a nurse blowing bubbles worked).

I agree it is highly unlikely it was just the light, the tests showed something and it sounds like you have an experienced gp. Do the follow ups and see, with just about everything and in babies especially the earlier you find it the better.

Take a look at the yellowalert.org website will give you lots of details on prolonged jaundice.

Thanks for the replies her Bilirubin levels are normal and her liver function is only just outside of normal so the paediatric doc said they are not too concerned but need to repeat the bloods to be sure. He didn't use any numbing cream at all and it took around 5 minutes to get the blood from her hand which was quite bruised for a few days afterwards..there was no nurse present just the doctor she really was inconsolable and took a good while to calm her down afterwards I will ask if they can do more to make it easier next time but I'm really dreading it.
Everyone that has seen her since (including a nurse) can't see the yellowing at all so if the GP did see something it's very hard to spot..
I'm in no way saying it shouldn't be done just that there must be a kinder way of taking blood from a tiny baby as it seemed borderline barbaric to me.