No Hemolyzing

Shayna is not destroying her red blood cells (phew!); her iron level is just low.  In a month or two we should see the red blood cells numbers reach the normal range based on the combination of iron vitamins but continued weekly blood draws.

We like to weigh her ever Saturday to make sure she's gaining well.  While last week was only a 30g increase this week we jumped 170g.  We all proceeded to do the happy dance around the scale with that number.  She's now at 7.87kg, or 17lb 5.5oz.  According to the Denver Children's Hospital this is only 80g (3oz) from being in the 2nd percentile (this a huge improvement over the 1kg it used to be).  Below is my Excel chart (download from the CDC website).

The other exciting development this shows is she is only 50g away from her previous all time high and this time it's all healthy Shayna weight.  (The two dips are from hospital visits that included albumin transfusions with a diuretic to get her to pee off some of the fluid that had collected in her belly (ascites).  The 2nd one was accentuate by the transplant 2 weeks later).

Today we take Shayna to her 2nd Easter egg hunt.  I got her her first basket, which she really enjoys playing with, so we can collect some plastic eggs with candy for Aba.

I posted Monica's birthday pictures from Shayna's birthday.  Enjoy.

Good Times

Nahum and I have been relishing having a health daughter for the past couple weeks and enjoying normal family time and outings with friends.  It feels so magical to be a "normal" family again.

Happenings since we've been back:

-Nahum went to the Netherlands 3/13-3/20 for a wonderful conference.  Shayna and I did great while he was gone with lots of play dates and even a bbq.

-I got a Burley D'Lite ST bike trailer that I'm in love with and Shayna is adjusting to.  The first ride to the store was a bit tough as she got tired and hungry before it was over and I didn't have the seat and straps adjusted quite right yet for her comfort.  This morning's tour of the neighborhood went much better.  Leslie came over with her 2 girls and their new trailer then the 5 of us did a loop around the neighborhood and ended at the playground.  I think this helped Shayna as she loves the swings.  She mildly protested when I first put her in at the house but after the park she actually seemed content in the trailer.  A few more little trips like that and hopefully we can use it to run errands.

-Labs continue to get better.  She sat on my lab for yesterday's and only fussed mildly when the needle went in and out but was great during the draw.  She even tried to grab to the tubes, to help I'm sure.  I don't know today's results but we did have to add some extra tests to see if she is hemolizing her blood (destroying her red blood cells) due to a possible autoimmune disorder because of the immunosuppression. 

-Shayna's scooting more and more on her own.  She continues to gain weight well.  She enjoys trying different foods but would happily eat cream cheese sandwiches and strawberries all day if I let her.  She takes her (cut up) generic Flinstones chewables with iron like a champ and feeds herself the medicine in her syringes.

-I went to master's swimming for the first time since Shayna got sick last night and Nahum took care of Shayna (dinner, play, and bedtime).  All three of us had a wonderful time.  Nahum loved walking Shayna all over the house and I enjoyed being rewarded by the Pittsburgh gym session with some good starting times in the pool and enjoy dinner and a beer with my friend Leslie afterward.

Each day continues to be a joy and a blessing with our health little girl.