Update oct
1999
My membranes ruptures at 20 weeks, 4
days. After 6 days of hospitalization
and remaining stable, I was sent home
on strict bedrest. The outlook was
grim. My doctor, a perinatologist, gave
us only a 10% chance that our baby
would survive and that was only if
delivery could be postponed until after
24 weeks gestation, the age of
viability. Despite these odds, we
continued the pregnancy and asked
everyone we knew to pray for a miracle.
After 8 1/2 weeks of bedrest, an
infection set in suddenly and I was
experiencing contractions at 2 minutes
apart. Upon arrival at the hospital, I
was dialated to 4cm. My doctor
determined a c-section was necessary
within the hour in hopes of preventing
the infection from reaching our baby.
We beat the clock and the baby did not
get the infection!
Michael David was very sick his first
hours of life. He was intubated in the
delivery room and I got a quick glance
at him before they rushed him to NICU.
His eyes were wide open and looking in
my direction. At that moment, I thought
he had a chance. Michael's lungs
required maximum oxygen and pressure.
They were only 50% the size of what
they should have been. The doctors were
concerned his lungs would be perforated
and that he would not survive.
Then he began responding to the
ventilator and his lungs began to
expand.
He was on the high frequency ventilator
for 15 days, CPAP for only one day and
is now on oxygen only after just 18
days of life! He is stable and a
beautiful baby boy! What a fighter he
is!!
His outlook is great and they will move
him to the stepdown room in the ICN any
time now. The doctors consider his
progress remarkable! We held him for
the first time on 10/11/98 for only 15
minutes and again yesterday 10/12/98
for 1 1/2 hours. It was such a
wonderful feeling after such a long
struggle during the bedrest and after
his birth!
God does work miracles and modern
medicine is terrific!
Don't give up hope if you are on
bedrest and in a similar situation as
mine. The odds are improving that our
babies will be fine!
Michael just has a lot of growing to do
at this point and we hope he'll be
home for Christmas!
UPDATE OCT
1999:
Michael is now 12 months old (9 months
corrected) and doing great! He came
home after 70 days in the hospital
weighing 5 pounds. We had an apnea
monitor for 6 months. It alarmed
occasionally, but we never had to
stimulate him. He is a happy, healthy
little boy who has a contagious smile.
As far as his development, his gross
motor skills are still "catching
up." He rolls everywhere, does an
army crawl, scoots backwards, gets up
on all fours and rocks, and walks with
a steady gate while holding onto our
hands. He does sit independently but
is not a great sitter yet. He topples
over after several minutes and cannot
yet get himself into that position.
He's been seeing a PT to help
strengthen his muscles. Achieving all
these gross motor milestones are just
around the corner. He's a babbler,
and his cognitive and fine motor skills
are all caught up! For having BPD at
birth, he has had only 2 colds that he
required albuterol and one of those he
also had a pulse of steroids. His
eyesight and hearing are fine. He's a
pretty normal child now who has fought
against all odds and won!
Karin (USA)
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