Blood Transfusion

Deblondie1

Emily is getting her third. transfusion today. That makes her three for three, she has had one every week since she was born. Can anyone remember how many transfusions their LO had when they were in NICU? I'm trying not to worry but it seems like that is a lot, no?

On a seperate note, I can't believe she is 3 weeks old LOL One the one hand it seems like she was born yesterday and on the other it seems like we have been doing this for months...

MrsLee22

My babies have had 4 or 5 apiece, so they're right up there with Emily. The nurses explain it to me that they take so much from them, and that combined with their slower production makes them need blood more frequently.

One of the nurses calls them "Twilight babies" lol (like the books and movies)

msalinardi@live.com

I know that my DD had so many blood transfusions we actually lost count and they stopped telling us. It was defininetly more than 5. I am unsure of how premature you LO was, but I know that the earlier they are and the smaller they are the more likely they are to need transfusions. Angelina was born at 1lb 4 ozs and they literally were taking so much blood to test that they caused her to need the transfusions. Her little body just couldnt produce as much blood as they needed to test. I hope you guys have a short and uneventful stay in the NICU.

lemen99

Andrew had 2 transfusions; he needed them so it was worth it although scary.  Hugs!!

njdcgirl

Andrew had a lot of transfusions the first few weeks of his life - way more than one a week!  He had 17 transfusions (17!) during his 21 week NICU stay.  I knew it was a lot, but I had lost track and was actually surprised at that number when we got his final discharge summary.

Ditto to pp, when you LO is so small, it is almost impossible for them to keep up with all the blood they are taking from them.  Also, preemies tend to be anemic b/c their bodys aren't producing white blood cells in the beginning, so they often need transfusions for that.

Deblondie1

Ok... Thanks ladies for the insight and support. I'll try to stop being such an incessant worrywort LOL Gotta trust the doctors and nurses, right?!?

lemen99

njdcgirl:

Andrew had a lot of transfusions the first few weeks of his life - way more than one a week!  He had 17 transfusions (17!) during his 21 week NICU stay.  I knew it was a lot, but I had lost track and was actually surprised at that number when we got his final discharge summary.

Ditto to pp, when you LO is so small, it is almost impossible for them to keep up with all the blood they are taking from them.  Also, preemies tend to be anemic b/c their bodys aren't producing white blood cells in the beginning, so they often need transfusions for that.

aw poor little guy!

SushiNoMore

Our little guy had 3 transfusions during is 10-week NICU stay.  He always responded SO well to them (his oxygen saturation was better, etc.) that we actually started thinking of them as good things!  :-) 

Kiki11

I think my little guy had a total of 19 transfusions during his 4 months in the NICU.  They always seemed to help him perk up!

kaylaaimee

Scarlette had 13 transfusions. Sometimes I was like "GIVE HER BLOOD" b/c when her crit got low she would stop pooping due to the early lack of bloodflow to her bowels. They'd be like "why did she stop having bms?" and I'm all "b/c her crit is 24, give her some dang blood already"

Here is what eased my mind: we were able to have our family donate and direct for that blood to go directly to Scarlette. So I knew when she was getting transfusions that she was getting my dad's blood, my husband's blood, etc.  So I would ask about that if you are nervous, I felt much better knowing where her blood was coming from each time!

Kate621

Jack had a lot of blood transfusions. I don't even remember how many...6?...7? They always helped perk him up and he was able to keep his sats up better afterwards. I know it's scary but they really do a world of good. The first few weeks are so slow. I promise once you are home it will all just seem like a bad nightmare. Hang in there. ((hugs))

njdcgirl

Deblondie1:

Ok... Thanks ladies for the insight and support. I'll try to stop being such an incessant worrywort LOL Gotta trust the doctors and nurses, right?!?

Oh...there is no doubt you are going to worry, hon. I wouldn't even begin to suggest that you not, nor was I trying to minimize what your LO is going through.  Hopefully though you see that what your LO is dealing with is not unlike other micropreemies, and that helps a little bit.  The NICU is a scary place and there is so much going on that is completely foreign to people who haven't been through it before.  It's overwhelming! 

The more I talked to the doctors and nurses (especially the nurses!) I began to understand that although my little one had me in complete awe at his amazing strength, that they have expereince helping other babies as young (younger) as small (smaller), or as sick (sicker) than my child.  That helped ease my mind and put more and more trust in them everyday.  Keep asking questions too - as many as you need to have your questions answered.  ((HUGS))  hang in there, mama!