After reading the fabulous Carrie Postma's blog, I decided to do the same blog challenge:
"As we reflect on the resurrection of our Lord, write a post that celebrates life."
I am going to tell the story of our miracle baby, Brendan. Some of you already know the story but I have never written it all down including some of my thoughts and feelings at the time.
It all started on July9, 1999. Brendan was born 2 weeks late and weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz. We were so happy to have such a big healthy baby boy!
The first week of his life was going fine and then when he was 7 days old things changed. He kept crying and I tried everything to console him but nothing was working so we took him to the pediatrician. Right when she saw him, the dr. said he didn't look normal. He had a fever and this was not okay for a baby this young. They did a spinal tap and there was blood in his spinal fluid. The doctor said no wonder he cries all the time, he has a spinal headache (very painful). She immediately sent us to the hospital. They ran tests and found 2 bleeds in his brain. They said he had some kind of infection. We were freaking out! What??? He also had really bad jaundice and had to be in an incubator under lights for a few days. I could only take him out to feed him. I stayed with him the whole time. Sid had to work and take care of Aaron, who was 22 months. I would put my hand through the holes in the incubator to touch him and comfort him. It was so hard not to be able to hold him. You could tell he was so uncomfortable. He had tubes hooked up to him so it was hard to move him when I had to feed him. After the few days in the hospital, the drs. said the infection was gone and we could go home but we had to keep monitoring him. We went home and within a few days Brendan's head was beginning to get larger and larger. It turns out he had hydracephalus, which is build-up of brain fluid. The drs. said it was from the blood clotting and not letting the fluid through. Then he told us that Brendan needed to have brain surgery and have a shunt put in to drain the fluid. We were in shock. He was only a week and a half old at this point. I remember signing papers that stated that we understood that death could be a possible result from the surgery. We couldn't believe what we were signing.
When the day of the surgery came, Brendan couldn't eat for 12 hours before. Could you imagine a two week old baby not being able to eat for that long??? All he could do was suck on a pacifier. He sucked so hard he got a huge canker sore on his gums! :( Handing him off to the surgeons to take him in was the hardest, most heart-wrenching thing I have had to do in my whole life! We told them to please take care of him. As we waited the 2 1/2 hours, Sid and I just sat in the waiting room crying and praying. I remember looking up verses in my bible and writing them down to help me get through it. I prayed to God to please not take him yet. The surgery went well and we went home a few days later.
A few more weeks went by and the shunt the drs. had put in malfunctioned so Brendan had a 2nd surgery. This surgery was much easier on us and him than the last. It went fine and a few more weeks went by.
One day when Brendan was about 2 months old, I noticed he was having seizures, so we took him to the emergency room. We found out that he had 2 more bleeds in his brain. Are you kidding me??? He was then put in the NICU for a few days and monitered very closely. I remember the nurses saying he was the "big boy" because he was in there with babies where some were less than 3lbs. The drs. couldn't understand why he kept having these bleeds in his brain. They sent us up to OHSU in Portland to have all kinds of tests done on him. They all came up with nothing. All the drs. were baffled. They had never seen anything like it...a full term baby with such problems.
Since that time, Brendan has had no more bleeds or seizures and only needed to have physical therapy for a few months because of stiffness. Eventhough all the bleeds were in different areas of his brain, the only effects are bad eyesight in one eye and stuttering. He is an absolute miracle straight from God! We celebrate his life everyday.
"As we reflect on the resurrection of our Lord, write a post that celebrates life."
I am going to tell the story of our miracle baby, Brendan. Some of you already know the story but I have never written it all down including some of my thoughts and feelings at the time.
It all started on July9, 1999. Brendan was born 2 weeks late and weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz. We were so happy to have such a big healthy baby boy!
The first week of his life was going fine and then when he was 7 days old things changed. He kept crying and I tried everything to console him but nothing was working so we took him to the pediatrician. Right when she saw him, the dr. said he didn't look normal. He had a fever and this was not okay for a baby this young. They did a spinal tap and there was blood in his spinal fluid. The doctor said no wonder he cries all the time, he has a spinal headache (very painful). She immediately sent us to the hospital. They ran tests and found 2 bleeds in his brain. They said he had some kind of infection. We were freaking out! What??? He also had really bad jaundice and had to be in an incubator under lights for a few days. I could only take him out to feed him. I stayed with him the whole time. Sid had to work and take care of Aaron, who was 22 months. I would put my hand through the holes in the incubator to touch him and comfort him. It was so hard not to be able to hold him. You could tell he was so uncomfortable. He had tubes hooked up to him so it was hard to move him when I had to feed him. After the few days in the hospital, the drs. said the infection was gone and we could go home but we had to keep monitoring him. We went home and within a few days Brendan's head was beginning to get larger and larger. It turns out he had hydracephalus, which is build-up of brain fluid. The drs. said it was from the blood clotting and not letting the fluid through. Then he told us that Brendan needed to have brain surgery and have a shunt put in to drain the fluid. We were in shock. He was only a week and a half old at this point. I remember signing papers that stated that we understood that death could be a possible result from the surgery. We couldn't believe what we were signing.
When the day of the surgery came, Brendan couldn't eat for 12 hours before. Could you imagine a two week old baby not being able to eat for that long??? All he could do was suck on a pacifier. He sucked so hard he got a huge canker sore on his gums! :( Handing him off to the surgeons to take him in was the hardest, most heart-wrenching thing I have had to do in my whole life! We told them to please take care of him. As we waited the 2 1/2 hours, Sid and I just sat in the waiting room crying and praying. I remember looking up verses in my bible and writing them down to help me get through it. I prayed to God to please not take him yet. The surgery went well and we went home a few days later.
A few more weeks went by and the shunt the drs. had put in malfunctioned so Brendan had a 2nd surgery. This surgery was much easier on us and him than the last. It went fine and a few more weeks went by.
One day when Brendan was about 2 months old, I noticed he was having seizures, so we took him to the emergency room. We found out that he had 2 more bleeds in his brain. Are you kidding me??? He was then put in the NICU for a few days and monitered very closely. I remember the nurses saying he was the "big boy" because he was in there with babies where some were less than 3lbs. The drs. couldn't understand why he kept having these bleeds in his brain. They sent us up to OHSU in Portland to have all kinds of tests done on him. They all came up with nothing. All the drs. were baffled. They had never seen anything like it...a full term baby with such problems.
Since that time, Brendan has had no more bleeds or seizures and only needed to have physical therapy for a few months because of stiffness. Eventhough all the bleeds were in different areas of his brain, the only effects are bad eyesight in one eye and stuttering. He is an absolute miracle straight from God! We celebrate his life everyday.
5 comments:
I remember how scary that was! It is a miracle and we are so happy to have Brendan in our life (and Aaron too). I think you should post that layout you did with this story recently :) Love You!
What an amazing and scary story. Thanks for sharing! Sounds like God has had his hand on Brendan all along! And like Erica said, you should scrap that story!
I have tears in my eyes and I know the story ends well...what an emotional journey for you all! Brendan is a miracle, and looking at him now and how he siezes every moment of life with full force you'd never guess what he had gone through!!
Heids, so glad your bloggin' love it! Brendan is my little buddy, he has such a zest for life that you'd never even know what he's gone thru. The toughest kid I know. I miss you guys, but am sure glad you found a church that you fit in.Call me when you get a chance!
heidi! I have heard this story before but, reading and hearing your emotions...you made me cry Girl! He is certainly God's gift and a miracle for you guys!
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