Update

Well, last Thursday didn't go as I planned at all. Even knowing that a blood transfusion was possible for Rhett I didn't anticipate that we would actually have to do it. Imagine my surprise.

We started out at 7 am that morning and headed to the clinic to have his counts checked. We were told that it would take a while to get all the results so we could leave and come back at 2:20 that afternoon for the results. We left the clinic and killed maybe a half hour when I received a call from the nurse asking me to come back immediately to speak with the doctor; that we were likely headed to Vanderbilt right away.


At that point, trying as hard as I could not to, I still lost it. I kept trying to tell myself that it was ok; that this was going to make him feel so much better.

Upon arriving at the clinic our doctor was waiting for us. He was so good to us and tried his best to be reassuring and comforting. I so appreciate how great he's been throughout this entire process. He simply told us that Rhett's counts were just too low and that the risks of a transfusion no longer outweighed the need for it. It was time. His body had to have it. Right away. So, off to Vanderbilt we went.

That was a tough drive. Brandon and I were nervous, tired, starved. But all we could think about was getting our baby there. Rhett barely made a peep the entire trip there besides the occasional whimper. You could just tell he felt SO bad. But not enough energy to even express it.

When we arrived at Vanderbilt we learned that we would most likely be admitted for the night. Everything was "hurry up and wait". We were so anxious to get everything started but we had to wait. Wait on the IV team. Wait on a hospital room. Wait on blood counts. Wait on this. Wait on that. It was almost more than I could take. Rhett was crying and couldn't be blasted off of me with a stick of dynamite. Finally I peeled him off long enough to make a run for the restroom. I felt so nauseous. As I walked down the hall I noticed one of the nurses looked so familiar to me. I realized that she was the sister of one of my great friends.

I'll pause right now to say that seeing her brought to mind just how great a place FHU is. Although she and I weren't at Freed at the same time, that bond is there just because we both attended there and share friends/family who also attended there. I talked with her for a little while and she was so reassuring and just seeing a positive smiling face made me feel like everything was going to be ok. I'm so glad she was there!

After finally getting a hospital room at 6:00 pm we finally ate for the first time that day. Then it was more waiting. The blood didn't get there until 10 pm that night and it was supposed to be a 4 hour process. I just knew that we wouldn't sleep all night but as it turned out once they got it started and about an hour into it, Rhett fell asleep and slept through the remaining three hours. So, it worked out great.
Waiting patiently.

Finally, the good stuff arrives! We started around 10 pm that night.

Sleeping through the last few hours of the first transfusion.

He was still a little agitated after the transfusion and I was worried that something else was wrong. I told Brandon that it just wasn't' what I expected. I expected him to feel at least 90% better afterwards. The next morning a nurse came in and said that his blood counts showed that they had come up some after the transfusion but not enough so there were ordering a second. She said it was possible we'd be there another night. They started the blood at 10 am which meant we wouldn't finish until 2 pm. Ugh. We were so ready to get out of there.
To pass the time during the second transfusion we did lots of coloring, playing with toy horses, watching Baby Einstein videos and reading books.

Thankfully, the second transfusion left him feeling like this! :)

The doctors came by and said that the first transfusion brought his hemoglobin up to a 5.7. We didn't really know what that meant; if it was good or bad. So they explained that a normal level for him should be 12. When he came in he had 3! They said it was surprising he was doing as well as he was being as though he was running on a FOURTH of what he needed. His little heart was just in overdrive. The first blood transfusion didn't even get him up to half of what he should need. We weren't sure what the counts were after the second but the doctors felt confident that it would be enough to send us on home. They wanted follow up blood work on Tuesday with the possibility of coming back there for more blood if the levels weren't where they wanted them to be.

Today we went back to our clinic for blood work. It showed his level up to a 9.7! As our pediatrician said, normally we wouldn't celebrate a 9.7 but given where he's been it's GREAT! Then later this afternoon we got even better news. Reports showed when we left Vandy his counts were a 8.2. This means that his counts went up ON THEIR OWN with no additional blood! Exactly what we wanted to see. So, we go back in two weeks to have everything checked again but all indications are that he's over it and we're on the uphill swing! Thank you, God! And thank YOU ALL for all the prayers! Please continue to remember him and pray that those counts keep on rising! :)