Poor Baby...Poor Mommy!

Well, Levi had to go to his weekly doctor's appointment today. Ever since he left the hospital, we have been going to the doctor every week to check his hemeticrit (sp?) level, this tells us how anemic he is. All newborns are born slightly anemic because they have to break down the extra blood cells that they no longer need now that they are outside of the womb. Well, Levi had double the amount to break down because of the Rh incompadibility...he had to get rid of my antibodies that were breaking down his antibodies.

Why the title, "Poor Baby...Poor Mommy"? Well, today, Levi got stuck 4 times!!!! Usually, they just have to stick his heel to get the blood they need to test his hematicrit level. Today, the doctor wanted to do another test to see how quickly Levi was repairing the blood cells, so they needed more blood than what they could get from the heel.

First, the nurse tried on his left arm...no luck. Then, she called another nurse in to help her try on his right hand...no luck. Then, the doctor, who specializes in hematology, came in to try on his left hand...no luck! He is just too little; it's hard to get a vein. So, the doc said he could get a vein in his head, but since he has already been pricked 4 times, he would just skip this test for now. I sighed with relief!!!

So, the nurse comes back in to prick his heel to get blood for the hematicrit test. That makes prick number 4! Let's just say Levi was not happy and I was sad because I was holding him while they were pricking him, and I didn't want him to associate pain with me! I thought I hated giving blood, but it is so much worse watching your little one get stuck 4 times, and the nurses still not getting what they had hoped for.

We finally got to leave, and if Levi was old enough, we definitly would have stopped for ice cream! But I thought we still needed to treat ourselves. I treated myself to a coke and cheeseburger with extra pickles from McDonald's. I thought about what I could to for Levi since he is not big enough for a treat. Well, his favorite things right now are eating and sleeping. His favorite way to sleep is on my chest, so I thought I would just hold him, and snuggle with him, and let him sleep on me all day. So, today is the kind of day where I will forget about housework, laundry, and my "to do" list, and I'll just hold my baby all day! I know I need to enjoy it while I can!