Day 32 - The Iron Lady
MILLIE'S iron levels are dropping so she needs a bit of a boost.This is a common situation with premature babies.
For the past few days, Millie has been fed iron supplements to try to keep her blood strong so she can grow.
But the supplements are not having a big enough effect, so the doctors have decided she must have a blood transfusion.
This is not as bad as it sounds - partly because, like all small babies, Millie doesn't have very much blood to transfuse.
The doctors have calculated that Millie has about 140ml (about five fluid ounces) of the red stuff.
So it's not going to involve a drip or anything like that. It will be more like an injection of blood.A syringe will very slowly inject a small quantity of new iron-rich blood into her veins.
The whole process will be controlled by computer.
One of the other babies on the Special Care Baby Unit underwent this exact procedure a couple of weeks ago.
Within minutes he had red rosy cheeks and was looking much better, so we're hoping Millie will be the same.
She put on another 31 grammes in the past 24 hours and now weighs 1.735kg (about 3lb 13 1/2 ounces).
The consultant showed Millie's growth chart to mummy today.
Funnily enough, it looked exactly the same as the one daddy has made at home.
Mummy didn't mention this at all.
But she smiled to herself as the consultant said the growth curves and bars showed that Millie was making "textbook progress".
(Murmur monitor: unheard today)
posted by Johann @ 11:51 PM
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