Avery's Follow-Up Lab Results

I took Avery in last Thursday to have her hemoglobin rechecked.  She was low at her one year check and she has been taking iron twice a day for the last month...never missed a dose.  This time they poked her finger and ran the lab right there in the office.  I wasn't expecting the nurse to come back in and tell me she was even lower.  Her hemoglobin was 10 at her one year check and after a month of taking iron she had dropped to 9.2.  I teared up and was feeling a little panicked.  Because the finger pokes are less accurate than a venipuncture (blood draw from a vein), Dr. Russell decided to have her drawn this route.  The first nurse that drew her missed...HORRIBLE.  Now, there were 3 people holding her down including myself.  I not only had a baby who was screaming and turning 3 shades of purple, but I also had Lily with me who didn't quite understand what was happening to her little sister.  So, the poor staff in the office had Avery crying, me crying and Lily nearing tears.  Dr. Russell talked with me for a while and she still felt that Avery was going to be just fine.  She called me later with the results...and she was right...Avery was going to be just fine.  A huge sigh of RELIEF!  The labs that were drawn were a CBC(complete blood count) and iron studies (Ferritin, Total Iron Binding Capacity, and some others).  On her CBC her WBC (white blood cell count) came back at 11.9 (slightly elevated, but she has a slight cold too so to be expected), hemoglobin 11.2 (NORMAL range for a one year old...HOORAY!), and platelet count slightly elevated at 429,000 (normal for a baby is 150-420).  So, nothing wrong with her bone marrow.  Her RBC's (red blood cells) were "small" appearing, which Dr. Russell told me could be indicative of Iron Deficiency Anemia.  Another MD called me on Saturday morning with the results of the iron studies, and they were NORMAL...the low end of normal, but NORMAL.  So...what does this mean for Avery?  It means she will continue to take iron twice a day.  She will have levels checked again at 15 months and 18 months and at 2 years.  If she continues to stay within the normal range we will stop the iron.  I can handle that.  This is good news.  Praise the Lord for good news.