Cord Blood Donation

I was so excited that my Cord Blood Stem Cell Collection and Transport Kit arrived today! Now, I don't know how anyone could be receiving prenatal care these days and NOT have been bombarded by information about banking the baby's umbilical cord blood (but apparently it's possible because there were actually people in our childbirth prep class who didn't know anything about it). *Of course, I've subscribed to several parenting and pregnancy magazines, newsletters, emails, etc. so in addition to the pamphlets, brochures and posters in by Ob's office I've also been inundated with ads and articles about storing cord blood via various other venues. So, whether you know all about it or not, I thought I'd share what we decided:
Because I've considered everything I possibly could in regards to this kid- from getting the best OB/GYN to deliver him right down to the detergent I'm washing his clothes with- I put cord blood among the top items on my list of things to research. And research I did. I read and read and read some more. I even looked up medical papers about the research scientists are doing on cord blood now to determine how it's uses might change to Soda's benefit in his lifetime. And those are extremely difficult (not to mention boring) to read. But I struggled through them...because it's a big decision, really. Not just because it's precious, potentially life-saving material, but because it's a lot of money, too should you choose to store it for personal use. After considering the matter at length (like, 7 months) we finally decided against storing it in a private facility. And I have lots of reasons...I won't go into too much detail (but if you're trying to make a decision about this and want to know my reasons I'll honestly be more than glad to tell you- just email me at mailto:randielizabeth@gmail.com ...afterall, I did do quite a bit of research and I'm very pleased with the decision we've made.) While we did not feel it necessarily practical at this time to store Soda's umbilical cord blood for our personal family use (that's not to say it isn't a perfectly reasonable and necessary option for others at all), I could not bear the thought of throwing away such valuable cells. As much information as I received about storing it privately, very little was sent to me about donating it. So I had to research again. Many larger hospitals are affiliated with a local cord blood bank and accept donations on site anytime at no cost and little trouble to the parent(s). If we were delivering in Dallas, for instance, this would be the case. The hospital where we are delivering-while of pretty good size- is no such hospital. I found, however, that did not mean we could not still donate it. There was just more involved. I chose Cryobanks International because they accept donations from pretty much anywhere. I was able to download all the necessary paperwork from their website (like a bazillion pages of it- no, not really...there were a bunch, but it didn't take that long to fill out). There were a couple that had to be signed by my doctor (who will be doing the collection- and doesn't charge a collection fee...if you choose to do this you might want to check on that). Then I sent it all off to Cryobanks-International and they called a few days later to confirm it arrived. There were a couple of questions they had to ask interview-style and some things I had to verbally affirm before they sent the collection kit. And now it is here! It's packed with our hospital things as we'll be responsible for taking it with us. We'll have to call and notify them when I am admitted to the hospital and again within two hours of delivery so they can send a courier to retrieve it (restrictions apply to weekends and holidays for public donation only) and I have to submit to a blood test after delivery, but nothing is done to the baby. It's completely painless for him! :) And it's all done at no financial cost to us. Naturally, we're praying for a healthy baby and I hope he and his siblings never need the cord blood we're giving away. But what I do know is that while we could keep it frozen somewhere at our expense, on the chance we need it until it is no longer viable...by donating it we're putting it out there (it'll be in a national cord blood registry) to be used by someone's child who does need it for sure. And in the event it can't be used as a transplant, it will be used for research. I feel like this is the best way of ensuring it isn't wasted. It will make a difference somehow...if not directly by way of a transplant, indirectly by way of research. And while neither may affect my children...either might one day impact theirs.