Our Very Own Miracle Is Officially A Teenager!

Our very own miracle is turning 13 today!  

Thirteen years ago at around this time (2 o’clock in the afternoon), I was being discharged from the hospital.  I just had my first round of steroids that would give my baby a fighting chance should we come to the point where taking him out of my womb would be the only course of action.  I’ve been bleeding heavily since my third month and I’ve been in and out of the hospital.

My OB-Gyn never gave us any hope that my pregnancy would continue.  On our first visit, she said it was likely to abort.

On my fourth month, she advised us not to get our hopes up.  The bleeding was getting heavier.

On my fifth month, she advised us to have me confined in the hospital because the bleeding was already endangering both the baby and myself.  It was of course out of the question. We had no one to take care of our two daughters, and we simply could not afford a long hospital stay.

On my sixth month, she sat us down to discuss having the baby taken out of my womb and they would try to save him outside of the womb.  I was to have four doses of steroids, to be administered in a span of two weeks.  The steroids would make the baby’s lungs stronger, and give him a fighting chance to survive, should we go through the C-Section.

We agreed to the steroids.  And on June 9, 2005, I had my first dose.  I stayed overnight in the hospital.  And I was discharged the next day.  It was thirteen years ago today.

We went home, comforted by the knowledge that the steroids would give our baby stronger lungs.  We were to come back for the second dose in three days.

We arrived home around 2:30 pm, and everything was fine.  But at around 6:00 pm, the bleeding started again.  More profuse than any I experienced in the past four months.  At one point, there was one big swoosh that really got me shaking.

And then I went into labor.

I got the calling the hospital routine down pat.  Been doing it for 4 months, I was already an expert.  And calm.

I called admissions for a room.  And I called the ER so they would expect me.  Then I called my OB-Gyn, my anesthesiologist, and our pediatrician.

A Series of Miracles

I was supposed to have four doses of steroids.  I went into labor just after the first dose.  That one dose gave me comfort.  Our baby had 25% more chance than before the first shot was given.

I lost a lot of blood while we were at home.  But the moment my husband put me in the car and all through during the drive to the hospital, not one drop of blood flowed out.

We’ve been regular customers at the ER, our car was already known to the ER’s security guard.  I saw him go inside the ER and come out with a gurney when we were about 30 meters away.

In all those months that we were in and out of the ER, that room was always a flurry of activity.  All hands on deck, all the time.  But that night, I was the only one in there.  I was prepped for OR in no time. IV drips were simultaneously inserted into my arms while I was being wheeled to the OR.

I’m Type B+.  And the hospital did not have it in stock in the blood bank.  On that day, my OB-Gyn was supposed to perform an operation on another Type B+ patient.  The patient was asked to produce two bags of blood.  She was only able to produce one.  So the operation was re-scheduled for another day.  That one bag she had saved my life.  My husband drove all night to three more hospitals in the province to collect the five bags I needed.  Officemates and hospital staff also donated blood.

At one point, they called a code.  I was paperwhite.  I crashed. But I lived to write about it.

Manage Your Expectations

Our pediatrician was not able to catch for me that day.  There was a death in her family, and she was not expecting me to deliver that soon.  So when I came to the following morning, there was a stranger in the room.  She was the pediatrician that my OB-Gyn called to catch my baby.

She looked so sad.  And when I asked her about my baby, she told me: “You might not be able to take him home.  He’s really weak, but we are trying our best to save him.”

Our neonatologist was a ray of sunshine.  She was more hopeful. Focusing on the good.  “The steroids should help. And when you are stronger, please go to the NICU and be there for him.”  She taught me how to touch my baby like I’m massaging him, while he’s in the incubator.

He’s A Strong Boy!

He stayed in the hospital for a month. And then we were allowed to take him home.

After a few days at home, he had seizures.  We did not know those were seizures.  I thought he was just cold.  So I bundled him up in baby blankets. But when he refused his milk, we decided to take him to his pedia.

More Miracles

At the doctor’s clinic, I was asked to describe what happened at home.  And the doctor said:  “Marge, those were seizures.  We need to have him confined.”

Our doctor’s secretary called admissions, and we were given a room.  I went down with the baby to the admissions office to sign for the room.  And when we were given the green light to go to our room, I went to the ER instead.  I just wanted to wave hello to the ER staff.  And just as we got there, the baby in my arms turned blue.  He stopped breathing!

Imagine if we went straight to the room and he had the arrest there. All the equipment were in the ER!  He would not have made it.

He was given CPR.  He was so tiny, CPR was just two fingers tapping on his chest.  Then he was intubated.  It was all a blur to me.  I thought I was going to pass out.

He had another arrest right after he was intubated.  And then he was brought to the ICU.

At the ICU, he stopped breathing three more times.  I remember having my eyes on the heart monitor, and I watched the number go down to 25.  At that number, I closed my eyes.  I don’t know how low that number came to.  But he came back. I was half-lying on the floor, praying like I’ve never prayed before.

Setting Our Priorities

He stayed another month in the hospital.  Our neonatologist and our pediatrician joined forces in lobbying that our son be allowed to go back to NICU.  The regular ICU was not equipped to care for a newborn.

Our neurologist strongly advised that I should personally care for our son.  The first two years would be critical.  We need to watch out for signs of any delay in development.  They were not sure if there has been oxygen deprivation in his brain in all those times that he stopped breathing.  So we needed to be vigilant.

It was a difficult decision.  We needed my income to pay off the hospital debt we incurred.  But our son needed a mother’s care.  So did our daughters.

So I resigned from my corporate position and became The Happy WAHM.

Jude, Through The Years

We named him after my husband, who was born on the feast of Saint Jude Thaddeus.

Want to see how tiny he was?

The photo on this card was taken when he was a month old.  His head was the size of my fist.

But he caught up in no time.

He was a happy child.

And soon enough, he joined the homeschool journey of his sisters.

He went through the car phase, when all his drawings and all he talked about were cars.

The origami phase.  Pictured below was a Valentine’s gift to me.

The building phase, first with our Math manipulatives…

…and then later with Keva planks, which I wrote about here.

At one point, he loved soccer.

And supported me in my craft business.  He enjoyed french knitting.

He also had a long hair phase.  That time when our eldest was starting college, and my husband and I were talking about how we need to make adjustments in our budget, he volunteered not to have his hair cut, and put his haircut budget to Ate Xia’s college fund.

Among his interests, what have remained constant are his passion for astronomy, his love for music, and his fascination with Science.

We have just recently bought him a telescope, which I wrote about here, and a Thomson acoustic guitar with pick up and amplifier.  For his birthday today, his wish is to have a bass guitar, but he will have to wait for it because that one is so not in our budget.  🙂  I just wish he’ll let me record him playing.  He’s really good!

Meanwhile, he’s just been promoted to high blue belt in Taekwondo.

And busy with his new Snatoms set, which he bought with his hair.

Yes, you read that right.  He used his hair to buy his first micro set of Snatoms, but that is another story for another day.

For today, it is all about having a third teenager in the family.  🙂

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