More....

I am happily married with a 8 year old son. My second son, Joshua Vincent, was born 3:12 AM Tuesday, November 27, weighing in at 7 lb. 9 oz. and 19 in. long. He was flown to a NICU less than 1 day after his birth to deal with a suspected infection and/or seizure activity. His body temp was low and he was exhibiting seizure like spasms. He barely cried his first hours of life and I haven't seen him open his eyes yet...We are awaiting test results to confirm his exact condition.

After further testing, they determined that Josh had a cortical infarction (which was a lack of blood flow to the brain, similar to a stroke). He spent 22 days in the NICU, and came home 5 days before Christmas. His prognosis is unclear - the doctors told us how he grows (he's grown 2 inches and gained over 2 pounds since he was born) and develops depends on how his brain adapts. They originally told us that he wouldn't drink from a bottle and sent him home with a feeding tube in his nose (that I had to change weekly).We've been told that children's brains have alot of growing to do, and sometimes the undamaged part of the brain can reprogram itself to make up for the damaged areas. He is making slow progress, though - he just started to cry, and he peeks out of his eyes now (he doesn't open them much, and we're not sure if he can see or not). He is also drinking exclusively from a bottle and the feeding tube is gone. We're going to Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia on 1/25 for a second opinion.

UPDATE 5/7/2008

CHOP offered us little information - they were pretty negative (The doctor said he will probably never walk, talk, feed himself, or interact socially, and that he was blind). I was devastated. We came home very upset and unsure of the future. We followed up with the neonatologist in Hershey, and he wasn't very encouraging (his words were - "He's doing better, but not enough for me to get excited"). The neurologist told us that he won't tell us what he can or cannot do, because he doesn't know what Josh is capable of. He also said to take each thing he does as a great accomplishment - which we do. On March 24, the opthalmologist told us that Josh CAN see, but his vision may be impaired. He is also on seizure medication.

So far, he opens his eyes regularly, smiles, cries, eats from a spoon, can lift his head up, responds to voices, and has grown 4 inches and weighs a whopping 18 pounds! He even has 2 teeth! He has surpassed what the doctors thought he would do...and I believe he will keep going. I keep praying that he will be okay, and I truly believe he will.

If there are any other mommies out there with a similar situation, please feel free to send me a message!