Transfusion

The doctors told us they would start a blood transfusion for Leah when the neurosurgeon started to work at the front of her skull. The head is full of blood-rich vessels, so they told us to expect a substantial amount of bleeding. Dr. Taylor told us it's likely that Leah will lose her entire volume of blood during the surgery. To keep her heart, lungs and kidneys from knowing that her body is undergoing surgery they start to give her blood right away. Because neither of us match Leah's blood type and because they prefer to use whole blood, the blood is coming from the Red Cross blood bank (which makes me thankful that I have been a blood donor for years...).