Anemic

I brought Cerise to see a neonatologist yesterday. Mier and I were so bothered by her condition and we just wanted peace of mind. The visit was very enlightening as he explained to me the basis for Cerise's problem and the steps we are taking to address that.

The probable reason for her failure to thrive is that she is anemic. The neonatologist explained to me that newborn babies cannot produce their own red blood cells until the 3rd or 4th months. That is why they store red blood cells from the mother's last trimester into their system until they are able to produce their own. It is natural for the red blood cells to go down. But in Cerise's case, she also had sepsis (a blood infection) when she was a week old and that deterred her bone marrow to work on the red blood cells all the more. Hence, the anemia.

Right now, she is taking iron supplements 3x a day and a medicine that will help her absorb the proteins and nutrients into her system. Her urinalysis is normal and so is her blood sugar. We will go back to see the neonatologist after 10 days to see if she has improved. He was humble enough to say that they are not 100% sure that it is the anemia that caused the failure to thrive but since that is what is evident now, that is what they will treat. And hopefully it is nothing more serious.

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers. It breaks my heart to see Cerise so fragile. But she is such a happy baby --- always smiling and cooing and never really fussing except when she's hungry or sleepy. She is a fighter and we will all fight alongside her with God's grace. I pray that this episode in our lives will soon pass.