Donate Blood

The first time I donated blood was in high school. I got extra credit for my First Aid class so I was all for it. I had to lie about my weight since back then I didn't weigh much over 100. (Too bad I don't have that problem anymore!!) I felt good after doing it and now try to donate 2 times a year. I need to do it more often. You are able to donate once every 2 months I believe.

Last night was our stake blood drive and Eric and I went up. This was his first time. If he would have let me, I would have taken pics to document the occasion. He did great except at one point I looked over and his face was PALE WHITE!! and they had him in the reclining postition and put ice packs on his neck and chest. Hmmm...... :) He wasn't hungry when I made dinner that night but apparently not eating was not a good idea.

For anyone that has never done it, it really is not bad. The worst part, in my opinion, is getting your finger pricked to make sure you are not anemic. The process of actually filling the little bag with blood is about 5-10 minutes. (I take about 6 if you wanna know:) So once you get all set up, it really is not that long. AND, you get juice and treats when you are done. Eric and I happened to be the last ones of the night so we got extra goodies. We walked out of there with doritos, cheese its, fruit snacks, candy bars, rice krispie treats and swedish fish. Nice right?!

My blood type is 0-. Through doing just a little research I have learned that this is good for everyone else and not so good for me. So I figure, I should donate as often as I can since my blood can be used for any other blood type but O- can only receive O- and who knows, maybe I will need it back one day!

If you want to know more about donating blood, you can go here : www.givelife.org or here: www.utahblood.org

I have donated through both places. ***If anyone else is O-, I just found this article that they are desperately needing O- blood in Utah. Click here to read it!***

I also learned something that was exciting to me......apparently I am "active". When they took my blood pressure it was 96/68 and they said that was too low to donate. They asked if I was active and I said, not really. :) So they sat me down and said we would try again in a few minutes. The supervisor came over and asked if I had kids (No), had an active job (No, I sit at a desk most of the day), and a couple other questions. I said well, I have been doing water aerobics 2 times a week for a couple weeks. That's it! Wow, I had no idea. Sure made me feel good about my self. ha ha My blood pressure has always been pretty average so maybe my aerobics and treadmill routines are paying off. In the blood pressure department maybe but NOT in the "getting rid of flab" department. Ha!

So there you have it. I challenge you all to donate blood, whether you never have or not. Think of it as an oil change for your body!