Wednesday, August 16, 2006

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 ;-)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stanford has its own lactation center. I'm sure they have a scale that you could use, and they would probably be thrilled to help in any way.

From their website:
"The Lactation Center is located on the F2 Maternity Unit at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call (650) 725-8767."

Anonymous said...

Hi, this is Talitha's Mom in Ohio:) I'm reading newest to oldest today and just getting a partial feel for what all is happening.
sounds like, You may have to weigh David often ie: before meals, after meals, before potty and after potty breaks, before bed and on awakening - this will give you the 'drift' or how much water he looses at night due to exhalation. We did this with our boys when they wrestled to help them make their weight class. You'd also want to weigh everything that goes into David and everything that comes out.
So if you take David/s weight after eating and nursing, less his food intake which is measured, you get the weight of your breast milk. The food intake plus breast milk less excrement and drift should give you what is sticking to his bones ;)
As far as breast milk analysis, they're going to have to take a sample of first milk at the start of nursing and end milk at the end of nursing.
Also, yogurt and pineapple are superfoods alone and more than double their goodness when eaten together. The synergy helps heal bones, tissues, keep colds away, eases pain, improves digestion, etc.
Take care. XOXOX and lots of prayers