Jacob, Our 2 Pound Miracle

I was born with gastroschisis which led to some pretty severe issues when I was 25. I had a pretty massive surgery to rearrange some things. But the doctors and surgeons had cleared us to try and have a baby and said it would cause no problems with pregnancy. 

We found out we were expecting in February and Jacob was due on October 15, 2014. I went into preterm labor at 24w5d. I was transported to a hospital with a high level NICU. 8 days later Jacob was born at 26 weeks gestation (14 weeks early). He weighed 2lb on the dot and was 14 inches long. 

Jacob was automatically intubated and put on a regular ventilator. On day 3 Jacob was diagnosed with a pulmonary hemorrhage and was put on a oscillator which is a step above a conventional vent. 

He was on this for 10 days the first time. The same day they done a Ultrasound of his brain because of a low blood count. The found that Jacob had a bilateral grade 4 IVH. He had a ultrasound to follow this every 2 weeks the entire time he was in the NICU. 

The 2nd Ultrasound told that Jacob had some PVL changes. This was pretty devastating for us because that meant his chances of having severe problems when he got older were greater than 90%. Over time the blood decreased and there were no other changes such as PVL or fluid build up (hydrocephalus). 

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A bleed as severe as Jacobs and with the changes in the brain could mean problems down the road. It could be something as simple as a speech problem or something has severe has Cerebral Palsy. Not long after the first cranial ultrasound he was also diagnosed with a PDL. Which is a valve in the heart that is suppose to close after birth but didn't. The monitored this but eventually got small enough that they were not worried about it. No problems with that other than a small heart murmur that comes and goes. 

When Jacob was 8 weeks old he got very sick (while still in the hospital) he had a severe lung infection. He was actually put back on a ventilator again. After the cultures came back they were positive for MRSA and E.Coli in his lungs. After 14 days of pretty strong antibiotics he was on the mend. 

Jacob spent 96 days in the NICU and come out with pretty severe diagnosis. He will be 1 in a week and a half and so far shows no signs of CP or any other condition from the brain bleed. He is crawling, trying to walk, pulling himself to stands, talking (mama, bye bye) and is the happiest baby we have honestly ever seen! We are very thankful for all our NICU staff. Most of all we are thankful that God was with (is still with) Jacob every day he was there. Thankful that God was with every hand that touched him! 

Our little 2 pound miracle is the light of our lives!