I just got a call from the NICU. They checked her blood count today and it was too low again. They hope to start what will be her second blood transfusion since birth. They thought it would start shortly after her normal 3 PM feeding and end around 6 PM. I’m going to go in around 5 PM so that I can be with her during the last hour or so of the transfusion. I was able to hold her during the end of the last one and I can’t explain it, but it made me feel like I was helping somehow – even if I was just comforting her. And no, I don’t know what this does to the chances she will come home at the end of the week. I knew it depended on how she was doing and we’ll just continue to wait and see.
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Her second transfusion went well. She was very alert during the final hour when I was present. Actually, she was getting rather impatient that she wasn’t being fed because they were waiting for the transfusion to end around 6:10 to start her gavage feeding. Once the formula was most of the way in her belly she finally drifted off to sleep. The nurse said that this time her blood level had not yet caused any symptoms of any kind. Apparently, they do bloodwork on all the NICU infants every Monday and the level was low so a transfusion was ordered. She did seem rather alert and her color was good, so she may bounce back from this rather quickly this time.
Additionally, she had her eyes checked today and she passed just fine. No further eye exams will be ordered prior to her release. They even gave her a little certificate with a lion on it that said “I was brave!” How cute :0)
