So here goes. Baby sister was a preemie. Just 1kg or 2.2 pounds upon intake. They think she was less than a day old when she was found "in the bush." Abandoned in the bush within hours after birth. Can you even comprehend that? I can't. And I won't let myself because now it's my little girl we're talking about! The commentary on her report states this:
"The child was abandoned in the bush to the north of.... because of swollen soft tissue of the left tempus; widened brain fold of bilateral lobi frontalis with skull CT check and was sent to our institute upon picking. On admission, the PE showed: premature baby with 1kg in weight, obvious short and thin, poor elasticity of skin, not able to suck, cyanosis all over body, body temperature keeping in low level without warming up, closed eyes tightly, both ears were stick to head firmly.."
It goes on a little after that but thought those first few sentences are the most interesting. It sounds dire, right? But it's not really. The soft tissue swelling is, of course, the most concerning part of her report. However, if she was born with it, it could be birth trauma (even preemies can make for difficult deliveries) or it could be benign fluid build up. It's actually good news that she had this upon intake, versus an acute event that may prove to be a traumatic brain injury. That still COULD be the case, however, so we aren't doing a happy dance just yet. Only time will tell.
As for the poor elasticity of skin, not being able to suck, closed eyes tightly and both ears were stick to head firmly - those are all just results of being born too darn early.
Cyanosis is explained by the info below. If blood is properly oxygenated, it is red and flesh is then pink. If it isn't, then the skin turns blue.
Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Definition
Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) of the newborn, also known as infant RDS, is an acute lung disease present at birth, which usually affects premature babies. Layers of tissue called hyaline membranes keep the oxygen that is breathed in from passing into the blood. The lungs are said to be "airless." Without treatment, the infant will die within a few days after birth, but if oxygen can be provided, and the infant receives modern treatment in a neonatal intensive care unit, complete recovery with no after-effects can be expected.
Another tidbit of positivity: body temperature keeping in low level without warming up. Sounds bad, but it's actually a good thing! Why? Well, because it's the body's way of protecting itself. The brain requires less oxygen at lower body temperatures.
There's good and bad to be gleaned from all of this. On the upside she may just keep growing and developing just fine. Or, if there is something funky going on in that brain of hers, that is a result of the cause of the swelling, then it could manifest itself in a learning disability as she starts school and hits the next big temporal lobe growth spurt. If we are fortunate to make it through that one unscathed, we still aren't out of the woods! Nope. It could still come out in high school as she develops executive function around 16-18 years old. (Wikipedia says the following about it: Executive function is an umbrella term for cognitive processes such as planning, working memory, attention, problem solving, verbal reasoning, inhibition, mental flexibility, multi-tasking, initiation and monitoring of actions.)
So while she's doing amazingly well (our doctor's words!), it doesn't mean things will stay that way. She is special needs and just because she seems physically and mentally healthy now, it doesn't mean that her special need will go away or never again be apparent. We're hoping for the best and healthy future for her. But we're prepared to parent her should she develop a learning disability, impulse control problems, mood issues or at worst, mild to moderate mental retardation. We will do everything we can to aide in her development. We are going to assume she does have some sort of brain injury and do what we can to help stimulate her brain accordingly. The brain has an amazing ability to repair and compensate itself so rather than just hold our breath and wait to find out what's going on, we'll assume it's there and tackle it proactively!
So while she's doing amazingly well (our doctor's words!), it doesn't mean things will stay that way. She is special needs and just because she seems physically and mentally healthy now, it doesn't mean that her special need will go away or never again be apparent. We're hoping for the best and healthy future for her. But we're prepared to parent her should she develop a learning disability, impulse control problems, mood issues or at worst, mild to moderate mental retardation. We will do everything we can to aide in her development. We are going to assume she does have some sort of brain injury and do what we can to help stimulate her brain accordingly. The brain has an amazing ability to repair and compensate itself so rather than just hold our breath and wait to find out what's going on, we'll assume it's there and tackle it proactively!
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| Cheers to baby sister 3/20! |
Now to the current status of our new family of 5. We FINALLY told the boys. Yes, long after everyone else found out, but we had to make sure, sure, sure! Parker had a work dinner on Monday (PA day) so he didn't get home until after the boys had gone to bed. Then on Tuesday he skated in just in the nick of time for me to make it to a workout class I just started. After that we all met at our favorite Chinese restaurant (the one from CNY where they give you a bag of organic produce on your way out!). By the time we got home we went right into the bedtime routine. Didn't even think about baby sister. ack! Then during the first story at story time, the big kid asks "I wonder how many days until we get to see baby sister?" CRAP! Parker and I looked at each other with our oh crap faces and I mouthed "go grab the pictures." When he got back with the photos I said to the boys that we are going to skip the other stories because we have a surprise. As we showed them the pictures, their faces were absolutely, stunningly priceless. Biggest smiles, ever. Big kid said how cute she is. Little guy said he would let her snuggle his beloved Nemo. He also followed it up with "And I will give her all the toys I don't like anymore." If you know him, I'm sure you're laughing right now. He really is very sweet. And sassy. Big kid asked what her name is. I told him she has a Chinese name, and that we really need to figure out what in the world her name will be. He then asked what her Chinese name is and I told him Feng Yuning. "What? That's so silly." Yep, we think so too... Especially since we don't even know how to properly pronounce it. So now we're deeply involved in the name game. It's even more frustrating this time around because instead of dealing with just 1 (difficult and unreasonable when it comes to names) person, now I'm dealing with 3 total buggers (who are all way too opinionated)!
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