Jacob Tyler's Journey Begins

I had been having signs of labor for 5 days. At 4:30am I awoke with consistent contractions & at 5:30am called my midwife. I arrived at the birth center at 6:30am, was 5-6 cm & progressing nicely. By 9:20am, our son, Jacob Tyler, was born. At first all seemed perfect. Although he was struggling with taking his first breaths, his heart rate never dropped & he remained pink.

About 40 minutes after he was born, we started to see some things that made us a bit uncomfortable. He wasn't showing any interest in eating & he appeared to be having seizures & his limbs were very stiff. My Midwife called the pediatrician & it was decided we would take Jacob straight to the office for a quick exam. I knew then, where we would end up. I knew he wasn't ok & this was the beginning of another tough & bumpy road, just like his big sister Brianna Renee.

When we arrived at the pediatrician's office, Dr Ryan was waiting. I couldn't look up at him. All I could do was hold my head low & sob. As I barely heard the words coming from his mouth, we immediately left his office & headed downstairs to Newborn Intensive Care. Here we go again, I thought.

When we arrived in NICU, the nurses & doctor's were right there waiting for us. As they talked amongst themselves & asked Kevin & I questions about Brianna, I continued to lay my head over my legs & weep uncontrollably.

I thought lightening doesn't strike twice in the same spot? How can one family go through this all over again. Where will we find the strength? As the doctor examined Jacob, it was very clear that we were dealing with another situation that is very similar to Brianna.

The doctor immediately ordered him Phenobarbital, an anti seizure medication & a CT scan. The results of the CT scan were very similar to Brianna. The left side of the brain has suffered some sort of trauma & therefore has not developed correctly. By evening, he had many wires hooked up to his head with a video monitor recording his every move, this is called a Video EEG. This machine monitors his brain wave activity & will give us a clearer picture on all the movements he is making & whether or not they are all seizures. The pediatric neurologist has stopped the medication so that the test can be as accurate as possible. They will run this test for 18 hours.

Although still very rigid & appearing to continue to have seizures, Jacob seems to be resting comfortably, his parents on the other hand are a complete wreck.

Birth Stats:
Time: 9:20am
Weight: 6 lbs 3 oz
Length: 18.5"
Head: 12.5"

Visitors Today: Sara, Laura, Barbara, Colleen, Pastor Keith Lauwers & Terri