If it's not one thing, it's a hundred.

**UPDATED**

We went in yesterday for Emma's blood work. She was SOOO good. The lab nurse had me hold her down, which sounds awful, but I was much happier that it was me gently holding her down and singing to her than an absolute stranger. They only stuck her once and she didn't cry very hard at all - in fact, it was better than when she has shots. It was over in just a minute and she was a champ. Brad came with us in case I couldn't handle it, but I was ok. Thought I was gonna vomit all morning though. It was SO much better than I had expected.

They were going to run several tests (took 3 vials of blood!) and they said that they would have the results of her platelet count within 10 minutes and the other tests would be back the next day. The doctor came back in a few minutes later and said that her platelet count was a little low. Normal ranged from 140-500s. Her's was 114. She said that she didn't trust their machine too much, so they were going to send out the blood they already drew to double check. She said that it most likely meant that she could be fighting off a little virus, as if it were anything more serious we would expect her levels to be much lower. She was very reassuring, but we were terrified.

We made sure to really baby her last night, although she acted as if nothing had happened. She was in great spirits and when Daddy took off the bandaid (without telling me!!) she had already stopped bleeding. In fact, there was barely a drop of blood on the gauze.

Well, I called today and spoke with her doctor. All of the results were NORMAL!!!!! Even her platelet count was completely normal - 320s! Apparently it really WAS the machine. We are still waiting on the results of one last test to check for a possible clotting disorder, but all signs point to her being just fine! How great is our God????? We should have those last results sometime next week, and I'll be sure to update again when we get them. Thank you all for your prayers and positive thoughts!

Original Post:

Today was Emma's 9 month check-up at the pediatrician's office. She was a champ. She weighs 18lbs 6 oz, almost 2 full pounds over what she was at her last appointment when she was 6 months old. She was 27 3/8 inches long and in the 50th percentile for height and weight. The doctor couldn't get over how cute she was and how much she smiled at her. Emma turned on the charm! I had told Emma beforehand that we weren't going to have to get shots at this appointment, so she was excited. However, I didn't know that she WAS going to have to have her finger pricked for an anemia test and a lead level test.

She cried for a minute while the lady pricked her finger and squoze (is that a word?) out a TON of blood to fill a vial for the lead test. I broke into a sweat while holding her. It was rough. The nurse told me that I could take off the bandaid once we got into the car so that she wouldn't eat it. Have you ever tried to keep a bright pink bandaid on a 9 month old's finger? Yeah right. But I did. I took it off in the car and checked to see if it had stopped bleeding. It had.

We drove a few miles to my mom's office to have lunch with her. When I went to get Emma out, there was blood by her mouth and a few drops on her clothes. I figured that she had sucked on her finger and got it started bleeding again. I grabbed a napkin and held pressure on it until we got inside and found another bandaid. We left that one on until we had lunch and got home. Emma was so tired that she passed out in the car and actually slept while I carried her straight to her crib. She's NEVER done that before - always wakes up as soon as she hears her carseat un-click. Anyway, she slept for a grand total of 30 minutes before waking up wide awake.

While we were playing a few minutes later she took the bandaid off. I figured that it was DEFINITELY done bleeding. I was wrong. Blood on her stuffed animal. Her clothes. Me. Not a lot of blood, but it was dripping steadily whenever the pressure from the bandaid came off. She wasn't bleeding through the bandaids either. Just a little. So, long story short, an hour or so later, and another bandaid (still bleeding), I put her down to try another nap. Thought I'd call the nurse at her doctor's office to be sure because, by this point, she had been bleeding on and off for 4 hours. The nurse told me to wake her up and hold an ice cube to her finger to try to stop the bleeding while she spoke to the doctor about what to do.

She called back 10 minutes later. Luckily, the bleeding had stopped for good after her nap, so I didn't even have to use the ice cube. Good trick to know for next time though.... So the doctor had no idea what was wrong but knew that her finger should have stopped bleeding after no more than 5 minutes. She spoke with other doctors at the practice and the general consensus was that if the bleeding returned, go to Egleston to have bloodwork done to check for a clotting disorder. Regardless, we have to go in tomorrow at 10:00 for a blood clot timing test and perhaps a blood panel to check for clotting disorders. From what I gather, it's going to require blood from her arm, which will be quite the event.

I immediately called Brad and asked him to take the day off of work to go with me. If I broke into hives and a sweat with a finger prick, I may just hit the ground tomorrow. We won't likely have results for 10 days or so, so I may not know anything tomorrow. Who knows.

I spoke with a friend tonight who's son was just diagnosed with a blood clotting disorder. Funny enough, they go to the same practice that we do. As his mom was telling me about his ordeal, she mentioned the many surgeries and procedures that he went through as a preemie in the NICU without a clotting issue. It was then that I realized, we are SO lucky. This could be SO much worse. So many babies go through much more than this everyday. Their moms are tough and strong because they have to be. So I have to be.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow. It's likely nothing, but testing is the only way to find out for sure. I understand that it's ultimately my decision whether or not we go have testing done. However, it was the consensus of SEVERAL pediatrician's that we go in tomorrow to check. I could of course wait to have the testing done until she has another event, but who wants to wait until she's busted her mouth open and it won't clot???? I just wish it didn't mean a nasty blood test for Emma, but it does. Wish us luck.

Oh, and on a happier note, everything checked out very well at the doctor's office. Emma's growing well and developing well and everything is pretty much on target. The only possible concern is her speech because she is not yet imitating us when we make sounds. It's coming, but she's not doing it quite yet. We're supposed to keep an eye on it and call back in a month or 2 if she's still not imitating. My girl's smart though. Brilliant even. She'll do everything in the world - in her own time. She's her mama's girl!