Decisions, Decisions....

With less than 80 days to go, time seems to be running low on making decisions.

What kind of play yard and high chair to get?

What should we name her?

And do we bank the cord blood? What in the world is that--if it has been a while since you have had kids or don't have any yet--this is a decision all new parents need to make these days. Basically you set up an account to "bank" the cord blood that is in the umbillical cord. Cord blood is the blood that remains in your baby's umbilical cord after the cord has been cut. Doctors have discovered that cord blood, like bone marrow, is a rich source of unique stem cells that can be used in medical treatments. Stem cells are the body's "master" cells and can become any type of cell in the human body. The first use of stem cells in medicine was to regenerate healthy blood and immune cells in cancer patients.

There are like 70 different diseases that can be treated with cord blood--so if heaven forbid your baby has cancer or luekemia or needs a bone marrow transplant, the best option for treatment would to be to use the babies own cord blood. But it can also be used for family members as well, so if something happened to me or Ami or another child we have in the future--the cord blood will most likely be the best match. Kinda like those people who have a sick child and they have another child in hopes that the new baby will be a match--I guess that is one pro of having siblings--they are your best match when it comes to this sort of thing.

So you may be thinking--of course--why wouldn't you do this? Only one reason--Cost or perhaps you don't believe in stem cell research--Perhaps that is one good thing about Obama in office is that stem cell research will grow. 10 years from now--who knows what they will discover. So the cost is about $2000.00 + an annual fee of $145.00.

I kinda feel like you do when you take your pet to the vet and they ask if you want all the extra vaccines that cost more $$$$$ and you say "I think I'll pass" But how do you do that to your child--if something did happen, what would you say--We may have been able to treat you with the best option, but the economy was bad and it cost too much--You would just be killing yourself. Decisions, Decisions....