Thursday, July 2, 2009

It makes for a long day...

We arrived at the center a little after 9 and left a little after 4. We were picked up by the driver for the center and Musical Daddy met us there in the middle of the day.

Even though they had a type/cross on file from Monday, it still took awhile to get the blood.

Milestone news: The Boy ran a few steps today. He hasn't run before, just hasn't been able to, which is one of the reasons why he is in PT, because his gross motor skills aren't quite up to par. He did so while at the center and attached to an IV pole. Fortunately, Daddy is quick.

Does anyone have any contacts at the blood banks? It really ticks me off that they don't split blood units when the nurses ask them to, because the blood ends up going to waste. When they prescribe a transfusion, they usually write for a certain amount, especially with a little guy. He'll get 150 mL or 170 mL or something like that. An average "unit" of blood is somewhere around 300 mL, give or take 50 on either side. It depends on how much the donor was able to produce at the time of donation. Once or twice they have successfully split it up. I think he got the other half of a unit once when they split it, and if he didn't, likely another little tiny person ended up getting it before it expired. They'd have more blood available if they'd do that. If the right people got scolded for wasting blood, they'd be better about splitting units.

Anyhow, we are hoping that the Epogen has an effect and that he ends up not needing transfusions as often. If he only gets them once a month or once every 3 weeks, that will be an improvement for sure. Transfusing too frequently can cause some problems, in addition to being an annoyance for us because it is a long day. The nephrologist said that they'll be reevaluating his need for Epogen after he finishes what we have at home. If they still want to keep him on it, they'll hopefully start sending me a different concentration. He currently gets a pretty large amount--.825 mL as opposed to the .2 mL in the Neupogen shot--and he REALLY doesn't like it. The Neupogen shot has become, by comparison, not such a big deal. Not that anyone likes the process but he complains when he sees it, cries for about 5 seconds when he gets the shot, and feels better when he gets his hugs.

I ate some spicy food this evening. It was some Indian vegetables from Trader Joe's. Very tasty. I put no stock in spicy food triggering labor because I eat spicy food frequently. I don't think I'll be pregnant for TOO much longer, but I think I'll be passing my "due date" again, at least by a few days.

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

I hope baby boy comes soon. I know you must be anxious to meet him. :)

Alina said...

I had no idea they don't split units everywhere. At Overlook they do, and it makes no sense to throw out such precious stuff!