Another platelet check

We took Christian back to the doctor for another platelet count today. We insisted on staying for the results this time, so if they were low, we would have the doctor right there to discuss our options.

Today his number was 153,000, higher than it was, but yet too low. They need to be at least 220,000 for his age.

After we got the results back, we sat down with our pediatrician and talked about Christian. After spending three hours at Children's the other night, we seem to be getting differing opinions from our pediatrician compared to what the doctors at Children's were saying.

Our doctor went through every platelet count of Christian's and explained where they needed to be, he told us what would happen if his platelets got too low, and what he thought should've happened the other night. We were told at Children's that his platelets were just fine and to go home, so we did. Our doctor thinks otherwise.

We left more worried about Christian than when we walked in. We want a healthy baby with a good platelet count, but our doctor was saying that if they get below 30,000 he could bleed through his brain and would have no blood-clotting capacities. He would then need to be in the hosptial getting steroids and platelets immediately! Sounds scary to me! This is exactly why he sent us to Children's the other night. His platelets had dropped from 160,000 on Monday to 89,000 on Wednesday. He didn't want them to drop another 70,000 and then have an emergency on our hands.

We are going to go back on Monday and check them again. He said if Christian did get my antibodies, it would take 1-2 weeks to get them out of his system. If they are not up where they are supposed to be by Monday (Christian would be about 11 days old), then we need to sit down and have a consultation with a hematologist from Children's. I would be fine with that.

He said if they continue to be low past two weeks, then we need to figure out why they are low and maybe look at his bone marrow- I didn't ask too much about this, I just hope we don't get there!

Let's just pray that his platelets come up to where they are supposed to be by Monday! If they are, then he would want to check them in a week to make sure they are stabilized. Come on Christian!

On a side note, I got information tonight that maybe Christian's 89,000 count was by a blood clot. Our doctor said they do not run CBC's if they have a blood clot, but I was also told that if blood lays still for too long, it will clot. That day, they took his blood about 1:45, but I didn't get a call until 4:30 with the results. Hmmm.

Usually, his CBC is ran right away and I can get the results before I leave the office. It wasn't done yet when I was ready to leave that day. Maybe his blood sat around for awhile and therefore clotted and we got a really low number. Our doctor doesn't think so. If only we knew! Every other time we have taken his blood, we have gotten it back right away with a higher number. It makes you wonder!