Family

[LovelyLadyLux]

My brother and I are not close at all. Last night his daughter posted this on FB. She was pregnant with her second baby. Has to be the worst for a parent and while baby is 1.15 pounds at 7 months it is amazing how far modern technology has come.


On Tuesday March 20th, Jordan and I received a phone call that any pregnant couple would dread. We were told our sweet baby boy was not growing properly due to a condition called intrauterine growth restriction. They told me to pay close attention for any changes in his movements. By that Sunday I was positive I couldn’t feel him as much as I had been so I went in for a non stress test. For hours the baby’s heart rate was very erratic and he was dropping much below what is considered safe and for far too long. Jordan and I were promptly flown to Vancouver that night anticipating a crash cesarean on arrival but he did stabilized enough that they thought better to leave him in for the time being. Fast forward to this past Friday and we got transferred to Victoria for care so we could be on the Island. They thought we would be more comfortable closer to home, which we definitely are.

After having lots of non stress tests done every day and 4 ultrasounds in the last week, yesterday he was starting to go downhill very fast. He had not grown over the past 13 days and there was a lot of stress being put on his heart because one of his umbilical arteries was not pumping properly and the placenta was not giving him the proper nutrients. Yesterday they decided to deliver him via c-section at 28 weeks and 3 days.
Everyone, this is Rex Evaldo Kenneth William Rallison, born at 8:48 PM, weighing 1.15 pounds. Rex is doing as good as can be expected and they are very hopeful for him. He is such a strong little man already.

[Ruby Slippers]

Here in the UK, 28 weeks would be classed as 6 months - not 7. My youngest son was born at 28 weeks and weighed 2lbs 11ozs. He was in an incubator for 10 weeks, in fact, almost right up until he weighed just over 5lbs. Then he was allowed home. When he was 8months old, we found that he had epilepsy and total brain damage. He never walked, talked, recognised people and couldn't swallow. He lived until he was almost 7 years old. It's a good job that medical science has come such a long way since then.

[LovelyLadyLux]

@RS - that is very sad re: your son. I do know, via my work career, that babies born premature & so very very tiny are now apt to be kept alive due to medical science advances but like your son have severe medical conditions that leave their own quality of life questionable. I hope the doctors & nurses & social workers are being really realistic with my niece & her husband in that I do hope they are giving them a very realistic scenario of what life for this baby could be like and hopefully they will make their decisions accordingly.

My own first pregnancy was difficult in that I was sick from day one. I still remember the Doctor telling me, after tests, that genetically the fetus was no viable and really in no uncertain terms told me I needed an immediate therapeutic abortion. If I opted not to do this I could and probably would spontaneously abort which might mean I would lose my life and/or leave me unable to ever have other children. He was also equally blunt about the life of the fetus if by chance it did go full term. To this day I'm very thankful to him for being so blunt and realistic as it made my decision much easier. The only question I asked after the therapeutic abortion was if it was a boy or girl and this same doctor said they were unable to determine which further solidified in my mind I'd made the right decision to terminate.

I had a gf too some years later and she also delivered a tiny preemie. The baby, through the miracle of science was kept alive but was blind, seizured constantly and passed after several years. The toll it took though on my gf (who also ran a Daycare) was horrendous. Her marriage ended and she was exhausted from all daily care needs.