Mommy says, "Today I brought Lillian to the doctor for her 15-month check up. It started out all right; the nurse poked Lillian's toe to check her hemoglobin levels and Lillian didn't cry one bit. She just watched everything the nurse did. That was band-aid #1 for the day. Next Lillian's doctor came in and examined her. She asked some questions about Lillian's sleep habits, eating habits, and skills. She said everything looked and sounded great. Lillian is now in the 70th percentile for height (31 inches), 90th for head size, and 20th for weight (20 lbs 11 oz). The doctor was happy that Lillian had moved up from the 15th percentile for weight last time to the 20th this time."
"The bad news came after all that. The doctor said that Lillian's hemoglobin test showed that she is anemic. She went on to say that in order to verify the results and learn more about them, Lillian would have to go to the lab at the hospital to get her blood drawn. Shortly after telling me this the nurses came in to give Lillian two vaccines. Lillian was not pleased. So, after getting band-aids #2 and 3, Lillian and I headed off to Holland Hospital. I didn't know what to expect since Lillian had never gotten her blood drawn before. The draw took probably about a minute and then the nurses had to keep applying pressure (and band-aid #4) for about a minute after that. Lillian cried the whole time. Thankfully Lillian was a real trooper and stopped crying shortly after. Here is a shot of Lillian from the parking lot post-draw."
"After that we went home and, unfortunately, Lillian was not able to settle down to take a nap. Needless to say the rest of the day was not the most pleasant for Lillian. I think she was pretty sore from all of her poking and worn out from missing a nap. Meanwhile I was waiting to hear results of her blood draw and searching the internet for information about
anemia. I didn't know what I would find out. The doctor didn't sound overly worried, but as a parent my mind was still wandering, thinking of the possibilities. Shortly before 6:00 P.M. the nurse from our doctor's office called with the results. She told me that Lillian has anemia caused by an iron deficiency. The treatment plan is to give Lillian iron drops each day and recheck her hemoglobin at 18 months to see if the levels have improved. I was very thankful to hear that her case seems to be quite minor. I was also grateful when my brother, a neonatalogist, reassured me that although it is very important that we give Lillian her iron drops each day, we don't need to worry much beyond that. Phew. How's that for an update? Let's hope for a more positive day tomorrow! Just so this post isn't too depressing, here's a snapshot of a more chipper Lillian on our way home from the hospital."
"The bad news came after all that. The doctor said that Lillian's hemoglobin test showed that she is anemic. She went on to say that in order to verify the results and learn more about them, Lillian would have to go to the lab at the hospital to get her blood drawn. Shortly after telling me this the nurses came in to give Lillian two vaccines. Lillian was not pleased. So, after getting band-aids #2 and 3, Lillian and I headed off to Holland Hospital. I didn't know what to expect since Lillian had never gotten her blood drawn before. The draw took probably about a minute and then the nurses had to keep applying pressure (and band-aid #4) for about a minute after that. Lillian cried the whole time. Thankfully Lillian was a real trooper and stopped crying shortly after. Here is a shot of Lillian from the parking lot post-draw."
"After that we went home and, unfortunately, Lillian was not able to settle down to take a nap. Needless to say the rest of the day was not the most pleasant for Lillian. I think she was pretty sore from all of her poking and worn out from missing a nap. Meanwhile I was waiting to hear results of her blood draw and searching the internet for information about anemia. I didn't know what I would find out. The doctor didn't sound overly worried, but as a parent my mind was still wandering, thinking of the possibilities. Shortly before 6:00 P.M. the nurse from our doctor's office called with the results. She told me that Lillian has anemia caused by an iron deficiency. The treatment plan is to give Lillian iron drops each day and recheck her hemoglobin at 18 months to see if the levels have improved. I was very thankful to hear that her case seems to be quite minor. I was also grateful when my brother, a neonatalogist, reassured me that although it is very important that we give Lillian her iron drops each day, we don't need to worry much beyond that. Phew. How's that for an update? Let's hope for a more positive day tomorrow! Just so this post isn't too depressing, here's a snapshot of a more chipper Lillian on our way home from the hospital."
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