Jackson update

6 20 06, 1:15 pm

New update from Dr. Barty(?):

"sonogram showed a hemorhage
you know they are graded 1-4
4 being the worst, and it was 4
70-80% of premies this young do have cranial bleeding,
just not grade 4
we are concerned about whether
it's bleeding in ventricles
and brain tissue
so far it's in a small area
this age birth, there's higher degree risk
for developmental delays
higher risk for cerebral palsy etc.
eye and vision development
but his heart seems strong
his lungs look good
gases good
another sonogram in a week unless
there are signs of fluid increase
and/or cranial bleeding
can include spinal flow problems
and hydrocephalus
would require vent. tap to drain the fluid
so, measuring head daily interim"

Upsetting. But not unexpected. "His heart is strong". Amen.

6 20 06, 9:45 am

Nurse Sheila says:

"weaned O2 at 54% right now
resting
pretty stable
doctor will be around later this morning
cranial ultrasound yesterday, results not in yet
he had a good rest last night"

More good wishes from all over: Jackson has supporter(s) in Japan now -- he's worldwide!

-----

For those joining us late, here's the background.

Dana was pregnant in mid-January. Late January, she had a miscarriage. They didn't do a full DNC. So they missed the other fetus still there.

Feb., March, April, she had what she thought were odd, irregular, heavy periods. But felt something was still not right. In March she even said, "It's like my body thinks I'm still pregnant, or having another miscarriage..."

In May she did a ton of running around for the kids end-of-year parties and graduations and such. And wondered why she was so worn out. Memorial Day weekend, she said it felt like a heavy one was coming. Sat. night, we ran to the ER. She was nearly passing out from blood loss.

Nurse said, how many weeks are you? But I'm not pregnant.

Ultrasound showed the heartbeat.

21 weeks along. They missed the baby. It was attached up against the cervix, which explained the semi-regular bleeding and blood clots. Placenta previa. After 3-4 days at Baptist, they sent Dana home. Bed-rest. The hope was that the fluid level around the baby would improve, and it would move up to a better place. But they figured it wouldn't make it to term, but would need to be taken early.

The next couple weeks were a blur of runs to the Labor & Delivery unit; antibiotics and other pharmacy trips; and a night here, a night there, in the hospital. We learned all the L&D nurses by 1st names.

Tuesday, June 13th. Dana's been feeling feverish since last night. We head to the hospital yet again. 103.5 fever. They give her something to cool it down. It works for awhile, then fever's back up. First thing next morning they do a partial hysterectomy and C-section.

It's a boy. 23 1/2 weeks.

Jackson was Dana's dad's middle name; it's her brother and his son's middle name; it was handed down from Mr. Henry Jackson Chandler, too. So the first name was easy.

They knew right away he needed transport to Baptist South, Neonatal ICU has a ventilator for just such cases.

I got to stroke his head a few minutes. His eyes were covered from the light. He was very red, nearly translucent. It was like you could see his heart through his chest, if you stared for very long. His hand was too small to wrap around my pinkie finger. There were tubes and wires all over him.

His bp went up as I rubbed his hair. The nurse said, "Oh, he likes that, look..." and after a few minutes they said to just let him rest now. "We don't want him to move too much. We won't weigh him again for a week or more, 'cause his head needs to be kept still, too."

1 lb, 4 oz. 11 1/2 inches long. They brought his keepsake teddy bear -- the one they write all the info on, and put footprints on the back of -- "It's as big as him...!" I tried to say. I'd been pretty much holding together until then.

I thought about this story again, the one about Everett Joseph Smith. Read it when you have time.

The first 24-48 hours are critical, they tell me. Things to watch for -- cranial bleeding, infection, lungs, central nervous system. Just say "everything" and let it go at that.

But I went back to Dana. They said we could see him again for a minute when they were about to transport. They brought him to her room; she could raise up a bit, enough to see him. Thirty seconds, maybe. Then they were gone.

She didn't see him again, except in pictures, until he was 5 days old.

So, this is day 6. He's stable. Resting. Growing. Stretching. Cardiologist said stop the daily heart scans; he's strong. Head scan results for this week should be in most anytime now. If there was bleeding, it would show in other vitals. He's still day-to-day and week-to-week.

Critical but stable. We'll take it.

Thanks to each and every one of you who have emailed, called, written, prayed, cooked, sent White Light, or anything else our way.