Day +15

His white blood count went up to 0.2. Hoping and praying the lab results will be on the upswing. If the white blood cells plateau at an unexceptable number for a few days, Lizzy said they would give him G-CSF (granulocyte-colony stimulating factor) which would stimulate the bone marrow to produce more white blood cells. His hemoglobin has been steady for 8 days, which indicates his body is doing a good job at producing red blood cells.

Grace, the nutritionist came by. I always get nervous when she comes around. I'm working so hard to feed him, I don't want to be let down. She said his caloric intake is about 500-600, not including breastmilk b/c they do not know how much he is getting. She approved of the Odwalla Superfood drink, saying, as long as it's pasturized there is no problem. Yesterday, Lizzie was questioning the spirillina in Superfood b/c it's an algae. As long as it's pasturized he is fine to drink it. His diet this week has not been great. He is eating and most of the food is healthful, but he is not eating enough calories.

I called Le Leche League today to get support and see if there is any way to measure the breastmilk. The leader that I spoke with was encouraging. She said b/c I breastfeed him so often, the milk probably does not change much consistency, meaning going from foremilk to hindmilk. It probably stays in the creamy/fatty hindmilk state. That eased my mind. She also said there is a micromeasurement scale that is used for infants to measure how much is taken before and after breastfeeding. If I really wanted to prove to Grace that he is getting milk each time he breastfeeds, I could see if they have that type of scale. Other than that, she would like me to write an article for the Le Leche League Magazine ;-)