For those who don't know, when Dallin was born and ended up in the NICU for a week, it was due to a blood disorder called 'spherocytosis.' He has abnormally round red blood cells (instead of the normal 'bi-concave disk' shown to the left). These abnormally shaped cells are mistaken by the spleen as being old and damaged and thus constantly breaks them down... Dallin is chronically anemic because of this, though he doesn't show the symptoms most people would typically exhibit (ie: lethargy, headache, dizziness) because that's just how he always is and his body has adjusted... it's called 'functional anemia.'
A complication that arises with spherocytosis occurs when Dallin gets sick. He depends on his body constantly making new red blood cells at a much higher rate than normal- this is measured by the reticulocyte count or 'retic' count- a reticuloctye is an immature red blood cell. When his body is stressed with an infection, particularly viral infections, he generally will stop 'reticking' so rapidly in order to fight the infection. There is a corresponding drop in his red blood cell count and, depending on how low his h&h gets, he could need a blood transfusion. So there is your crash course in the pathology of spherocytosis.
Anywho, so just before we moved from Kentucky, I brought Dallin to his hematologist (blood doctor) and his hemoglobin (red blood cell) level was 10.4 (normal would be somewhere 14-16) and I was very happy because that was the highest it had ever been.
The whole reason I'm sharing this is because of recent events... Wednesday afternoon I had an OB check-up (everything looks good) and while I was gone, daddy put Dallin down for a nap around 1pm... at 5:30pm, we finally woke the child up- it was almost dinner time! I was hoping he was going through a growth spurt, but he hardly touched his dinner. By his 8pm bedtime, he was yawning and fussy and leaning for his crib! And then he slept ALL night- I was sure he'd be up at 4am, ready to go. The next day he acted fine, took another marathon nap in the afternoon, but woke up as I was making dinner. I brought him downstairs and put him on the floor between the kitchen and family room where he sat still, staring into space for the next 15 minutes... when dinner was ready, I put him into his highchair where he proceeded to lounge back and take NO interest in his [delicious, if I may add] dinner... when we were all finished and he still hadn't taken a bite despite my coaxing, I got out some goldfish crackers to see if he just didn't like my pasta- he ate one and then refused any more. He just sat in his highchair with his eyes half closed, yawning and tired as if he hadn't slept in days. When I picked him up, he was SO hot, so I took his temp and it was 102.3 under his arm, so really 103.3-- wow! I gave him some motrin and started worrying... he was so lethargic and yet pulling at his ear which made me quite certain that he had an ear infection, but I was equally concerned about his hemoglobin level that could also be adding to his lethargy... So I called urgent care to see if they could do an in-house hemoglobin level and they told me I'd have to taken him to the ER because the doc wouldn't see him because of his blood disorder... hmmmmmm, that doesn't sound fun... I tried calling the pediatrician on call to see what they'd recommend and they also said to take him to the ER... I didn't really want to go by myself and Nathan was 1/2 way through laying the flooring in the bathroom we're finishing (that'll be a post later on) and he couldn't really walk away from it seeing as how the epoxy was already down on the floor... when he was done, he and a friend gave Dallin a blessing. While Nathan was changing and checking the floor again, Dallin started to perk up- he was actually looking around, eyes open all the way and talking a little. I offered him some goldfish and raisins, which he accepted and then proceeded to smile and talk and act like his usual self, enough so that I decided not to take a trip to the ER that night. I called his doc this morning and they got me in first thing- Obviously I still haven't fixed my motherly intuition because *shocker* his ears were perfectly fine! His doc was concerned enough though to do some blood work- and since we had to stick him, we figured we may as well do some metabolic testing to check why he's not growing (especially since he lost 1/2 a pound in the last few weeks *sigh*) Poor little guy- he was so tough... A few minutes later (thanks to modern technology and medicine), his CBC indicated he had a viral infection of some sort, and his hemoglobin (red cell count) was at 8.3-- not good... but that doesn't mean so much without the retic count to see if he's making new red blood cells rapidly or not... Dr. Gapen said he'd call later with the retic count.... the lab didn't do the retic 'stat' so we wait til the morning to see if we have to recheck his hemoglobin tomorrow or wait til Monday- He's acted just fine today, which is a good sign- it makes me feel so much better because though 8.0 is usually the level where a transfusion is mandatory, he avoided it as a newborn because he was eating well and not lethargic, so if he continues to act like his normal self, he may not be transfused--
Sometimes ignorance is bliss- my knowledge as a nurse is often my worst enemy, but right now it's strangely comforting because I know what to watch for and what I'm not seeing gives me peace.
And so we wait...
Christmas was fantastic. It was so much fun with the boys- they were so excited about all of it... well, Bryson was. When he got up Christmas morning, I heard him go 1/2 way down the stairs and then coming RUNNING upstairs-- I could almost hear the excitement in his footsteps... he came bursting in our room and yelled, "SANTA CAME MOM!! SANTA CAME AND HE ATE THE COOKIES!!" I don't think he'd even made it far enough down the stairs to see the presents under the tree.... just the plate with only crumbs left on it- I had to pretty much force Nathan to even leave crumbs... what can I say, I make good cookies *grin* In actuality, it was refrigerated cookie dough Bryson and I plopped in the oven at 9pm Christmas Eve... When we actually went ALL the way downstairs, he was so excited to see the presents under the tree. We (I) really tried to not over do Christmas, Santa got them each 1 gift (why should he get all the credit?!?) and then a few from us, but when you add in gifts from other family members and such, it gets to be a lot... 
Most importantly, Bryson DID get his 'Mack from the noovie Cars' (as he says it). Most of the snow we'd gotten had melted away by Christmas, but we got a fresh blanket Christmas evening and the day after- I do love the snow here... We had a lazy morning and made Colorado omlette's and apple crepes- yummy! We decided it'll be our new Christmas morning tradition. 
Dallin and Bryson played with their toys.... especially the addition to the train tracks we already had... now we can make the track taller and bigger- and bigger is always better according to Bryson. We had a great dinner at my parents with fried turkey (it's the BEST) and all the stuff to go with it- most of my siblings were out of town, so it was a quiet day at my parents- kinda nice!
