Day 2- 30 days of being thankful

Day 2:

I'm thankful for donors. All sorts of donors- blood, milk, clothing, etc. Without blood donors, my daughter wouldn't have had the transfusion she so desperately needed when she was 2.5 months old. She went from my lethargic, yellow, barely eating, always tired little baby, to a bright eyed, awake, attentive, smiling baby.

What a difference a transfusion makes. The pic on the left was taken before we rushed to the ER (11.1.11). The pic on the right was taken after her transfusion (11.3.11). Today is the one year anniversary of her transfusion. To everyone who donates blood so that people like my daughter have a fighting chance, THANK YOU!!!

This is also the day we learned that she has a severe case of Spherocytosis. It was the day that changed our lives forever.

I'm thankful for milk donors because we use donor milk. We have had quite a few donors- Lisa, Donna, Nichole, Nicole, Stephanie, and most recently, Naomi. Because of all those women, my daughter is thriving, and her iron counts have been fantastic. She's gained weight, she's gotten taller, her immunity is stronger. I never thought I'd be okay with using another mothers' milk. But when it came down to her needing more than what I could provide, formula wasn't cutting it. She refused to drink it, I refused to spend that much on it. Besides, how could I give her something that she wouldn't drink?! I can't force her to drink it. Not to mention, I don't even know half of what's in it. So, donor milk it was. Now to convince the hubby it was okay. You drink cows milk. Do you have ANY idea what that cow has ingested? Any idea if it was sick? Any idea if the milking machines were cleaned thoroughly? If their udders were clean? Are you sure nothing contaminated the milk or the containers? And so on. At least with these women who are donating, I can talk to them, meet them, ask about their diets and habits, medications, and I have to say, if these women are feeding this same milk to their babies, I think it's pretty safe to assume they aren't partaking in risky behaviors that might affect their milk.

There are many other things that people can be donors for- clothing, time, cleaning, etc. While we appreciate everything that anyone has ever donated to us, the best donations we've ever received were blood and milk. Hands down. And to each of you who have given us anything, we appreciate it more than you will ever know.