Blood Transfusions = Red Bull for Babies

So last Thursday Samuel received a blood transfusion, which I'm sure I mentioned is very common for babies as early as Sam.  Well, it seems to be doing exactly what it was meant to do, which means it is a kind of "red bull" for babies in that it jump started his development again.  Here are some examples of what it did for Samuel:

• It turned him back to his usual skin tone.  Before the transfusion he was looking kind of pale which translates to red for preemies.  Now he is back to his usual skin tone which definitely looks much healthier!
• It made him a more content baby.  During the days before the transfusion Samuel was getting quite fussy, but you would be too if your body had to work really hard to pump the blood through to get oxygen everywhere!  On Friday he was about the most contented and happy that I've ever seen him.  Yesterday and today he's fussed some, but he always has a reason for the fuss ("I'm hungry," "my diaper's dirty" or "I'm tired of laying like this" for example).  So seeing that our baby is happy makes me happy!
• He's gained some weight.  Our little baby's cheeks are definitely chubbing out and he's slowly becoming a more typical chubby baby.  He was 2# 14oz at the time of the transfusion and last night he weighed in at 3# 3oz.  Way to grow Samuel!
• He's been keeping his stats up much better.  This means we've had much fewer A/B spells.  (Again A-apnea-breaks in breathing; B-bradycardia-drops in heart rate).  In fact he's kept his stats up so well that they decided instead of taking him off of CPAP and putting him on Vapotherm the doctors decided to just take him off of CPAP and put him on nothing!  This means that as of about noon today our son has been doing all of his breathing on his own with no assistance.  Way to go Samuel!

Those are some basic ways Samuel has improved since the transfusion, those aren't all his improvements, but some of them.  Now just because he is not on oxygen support right now does not mean he will not need oxygen support again.  He is doing well, but could definitely use some prayers that he continues to do well and improve without oxygen support.  The normal process of oxygen support starts with a ventilator (which he had for less than the first 24 hours of life), then CPAP (which he's been on ever since, with about a 5 day break on vapotherm), then vapotherm and final a nasal canula.  I guess Samuel decided he need to speed up the process and skip some of those steps!  If he can do it, then why not let him?

I am continually in awe at Samuel's progress.  Never did I imagine we'd have a month old baby already, nor did I imagine after he was born that he would progress this fast!  He is doing great.  All the nurses here love him and keep saying how cute and sweet he is and how much they love working with him.  Now this, of course, could be something they say to most parents, but I still take it as a good thing.  :-)