First-Time Mom Learns Importance of Blood Transfusions
Nov. 7, 2024
First-time mothers can experience a range of emotions. The weight of caring for a human being for the first time can feel overwhelming at times.
Kaitlyn Mullins from Springfield, Kentucky was feeling many emotions when Norah Gibson came into this world less than a year ago. She was nervous but ready to feed a newborn for the first time, to change diapers, to figure out when to get sleep, and to meet the needs of a tiny person that can’t talk.
What she wasn’t prepared for was daily monitoring of baby’s skin color, the worry that Norah was sleeping too much, or deciphering when her cries are just a normal cue for milk or whether it’s a pain crisis that calls for medical attention.
Norah was born with sickle SD disease, a type of sickle cell disease that occurs when a person has both hemoglobin S and hemoglobin D in their red blood cells. Hemoglobin S and hemoglobin D are abnormal forms of hemoglobin that can cause serious health problems, including anemia, infections, and episodes of pain and organ damage.
The only treatment for Norah is regular blood transfusions. Not even to her first birthday yet, Norah has already received 11 blood transfusions.
“It’s really opened my eyes and my family’s eyes,” Kaitlyn said. “I couldn’t imagine going to one of her doctor’s appointments, her needing it and not being able to get the blood that quite literally saves her life.”
Kaitlyn has had to learn what Norah’s cues are and adjust on the fly. Babies need lots of sleep, but when Norah sleeps all day, her skin turns pale or her appetite wanes, Kaitlyn’s alarm bells go off.
“Kids are resilient, so sometimes it’s hard to even know,” Kaitlyn said. “We went to the doctor and she doesn’t look like she’s at a 5. She doesn’t act like she’s at a 5. Where she’s so little, her body just adapts to that. She just learns to live at a lower hemoglobin, but she does need the blood. It’s scary not knowing when her hemoglobin is low sometimes. As a parent, you do whatever you have to do to make sure your baby is OK.”
It is obvious though when a pain crisis occurs, which will likely get more frequent as Norah gets older.
“It’s uncontrollable pain,” Kaitlyn said. “She can’t be soothed or comforted in a regular way where I would normally sing to her or rock her.”
Prior to Norah, Kaitlyn didn’t know she carried the hemoglobin D trait, and Norah’s father, Justin Gibson, wasn’t aware he had the sickle cell trait. Neither knew what sickle cell disease was.
Sickle cell disease is the most common hereditary blood disorder in the U.S. More than 100,000 Americans have SCD, and minorities are particularly affected by the genetic disease. SCD occurs in one out of every 365 Black or African American births and one out of every 16,300 Hispanic American births.
Barring a future bone marrow or stem cell transplant – risky procedures that can have serious side effects – the reality for Norah is she’ll be transfusion dependent for the rest of her life.
Kaitlyn and her family understand the outlook and do not want the disease to define Norah. They hope one day that Norah can be an advocate for others with the disease – to share her experience and journey, to show others they can persevere through it, and to educate others about the importance of blood donation.
“It saves lives,” Kaitlyn said. “It really does. I couldn’t imagine her not being able to have it, so please donate. It could save a baby’s life.”
