Thar Shaddin

more hopes and hugs
more wishing well


I remember during labor, my son's heart rate dropped to 68. His umbilical cord had gotten wrapped around his neck so every time I had a contraction he was being choked.

Fortunately, the nursing team knew their stuff. The beds in the maternity rooms can flip upside down . I was literally turned on my head so he would drop back.

Ok, now I'm getting all emotional. Darn hormones!

Bottom line, more hopes and hugs.

I would also like to offer my best wishes, and find myself feeling overwhelmingly lucky that my 3 weeks-ish premature little girl, born 6:19am PST this very morning, is doing well. More info in the baaaaaaaaaaby thread.

Thank you, Dave. I should point out Matthew was induced 4 weeks early due to the threat of eclampsia a second time.

He was diagnosed today with Group B Strep, something that we could SO easily have prevented. the NHS don't screen for it, and THIS is the result.

He's also being tested for meningitis. None of this is the biggest news, mind. He took his first breaths for himself tonight in 24 hours or so.

He's coming through. Hopefully now that we know what it is it can be effectively treated.

So glad to hear he took breaths on his own.

Indeed.

I'm glad to hear the good news.

That's awesome. Send them our thanks

So glad to hear that he's doing better! Who would have thought the prayers and well-wishes of a bunch of freaks like us could do any good?

I'm not a freak, I'm a weirdo!

Aside from the guestbook, this is now finished: http://prayformatthew.zzl.org/

He's been taken off two of the drugs that were being used to control his blood pressure, because it has now risen to the minimum it should be for a baby of his prematurity. He is also taking three out of every thirty breaths for himself now, which is an improvement.

We'll get the meningitis test results back tomorrow, hopefully. He's on two antibiotics now for the Group B Strep.

Yesterday they took him off some of the paralytics he's been on. So he's moving a little now.

This is a good sign. However the situation is still grave. We were told yesterday that he will likely be in hospital for the next 8 weeks or so.

Thanks for the updates.

Hugs to mom and dad, you, and of course Matthew.

Update:

No change.

Matthew is now under a UV light for jaundice, which is fairly common in babies. He is generally improved and yesterday was given 3mls of baby milk, the first he's had at all.

Still not breathing for himself, though. The ventilator is trying to train him to actually take more breaths... long way to go, yet.