So our wonderful little Peanut is here. My water broke at 4:30 AM yesterday and we headed to the hospital. After being here a few hours, I was given pitocin to move things along since I was basically running out of fluid and I wasn't contracting. After that, things moved along rather quickly. Our little "Nutt" was born at 11:15 AM. He was 20" long (even though Daddy is insisting that the nurse measured wrong and he is actually 21" ) and 7lb 8oz. He is one of the most beautiful things that I've ever seen. I love him so much that sometimes I feel like I could pop!
When he was born, the docs noticed that when he was crying he wouldn't close his right eye or lift the corner of his mouth on the right side. So after initial consults with a neurologist and an opthomologist, they diagnosed him as having facial palsy or paralysis from trauma to the cranial nerve VII on the right side of his face. I've been told that he could've gotten it from the way he was positioned in the womb, from the speed of the delivery or possibly from a stroke in utero. So right now we are in the hospital room, waiting on our beautiful boy to get finished with his MRI to see if there are any neurological issues or if it is just the nerve. He will then have to come down to NICU and spend 24 hours in there because he will be sedated for the MRI. So it looks like Mom and Dad are going to be in the hospital another night, too.
The good thing is that the nurses on the floor (and Mommy and Daddy) have noticed that he is now able to close his eye while he is sleeping and he has good suction when nursing from a bottle. The neurologist said that it is possible that the paralysis is semi-temporary and will get better with time. I am a firm believer that breast milk has been helping and I am pumping so he has colostrum waiting for him when he can eat again.
I just feel really helpless right now and I wish that he was here with us. There have been so many doctors in and out that my head is spinning by this point. I will keep updating as I get info. We have to wait for a radiologist to read the MRI results before we will hear anything. Please keep our family and our little Nutt (or maybe I'll call him Popeye) in your prayers, no matter what religion you are. We love him so much and it doesn't matter if the palsy gets better or not, he is everything that we've waited so long for.
We were just in the NICU and Nutt is successfully feeding. I am so happy because they didn't know if he would be able to suck because of his mouth not moving very well. He's such a trooper! So as long as he can keep his feeding schedule going (once every 3 hours), they will be able to take his IV out and he will probably be discharged tomorrow. We will also hear the results of the MRI tomorrow morning when the attending at this hospital do their rounds. So I'm sure I won't sleep a wink tonight.
I will update everyone once we know something. And THANK YOU ALL for your thoughts and prayers. I'm a firm believer that every little bit of positive energy that you are sending out is reaching our little Nutt and helping him in his time of need. Thank you so much!
*Update* 8/11/10
Well, we got the MRI results but I'm not sure exactly what they mean. We were told by the attending that our son has a condition called "Moebius Syndrome." Whatever the hell that is, I have no idea. Our doctors have no fucking idea either. They just gave us this little baby, told us the right side of his face would never work and wished us luck. I've been looking around online and I'm actually scared to death about this disease (sorry this isn't a funny blog. I'm too scared shitless to even begin to crack jokes right now). There are so many other complications that can come with it that can cause death or that we might not know about right away. I am so afraid that every time I go into Nutt's room, he won't be breathing. I don't know what to do right now.
We did get a call from a lady that works for a program called Early Intervention. I guess she's going to put us in touch with the Moebius Syndrome Foundation. I checked out the site a little online and I'm really hoping that these people can answer some of my questions. Like, are there different levels of Moebius Syndrome? Most of the kids I'm reading about can't move their eyes and their entire faces are paralyzed. Nutt is only affected on the right side and his eyes move just fine. He can also close his right eye when he sleeps but these people can't. This is such a strange thing to have happen, but I guess it's a fairly rare diagnosis.
And the lady from intervention said it's considered a disability. I just keep picturing that little blue wheelchair hang-tag hanging from my mirror because my son is disabled. This is all so surreal. I feel like I'm in some kind of dream. I'm going to go do some more research and hopefully I'll get the packet that the Moebius place is sending me so I can get some answers. I just want to know that my little Nutt is going to be okay.
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