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| Keon's Journey |
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| This journey begins on a cool October day. I was 24 years old and 20 weeks pregnant with twins. I was on my way to an appointment with my Perinatologist for my montly ultrasound. I was excited because I was gonna find out for sure what I was having today. I was hoping for a boy and a girl. |
| The doctor started the ultrasound with the vaginal. He wanted to get a look at my cervix and make sure everything was okay. I knew right away something was wrong. The doctor told me I was dialated 1 cm and that the amniotic sac of Baby A was making it's way into the cervix. He informed me that the only choice we had at this point was to attempt an emergency cerclage (placing a stictch in the cervix to keep it closed). He said that this was riskiy this far along, but it was the only hope to save the pregnancy. |
| So now, a day that started out so wonderful had become frightening. I was sent to local hospital housing a Level III NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). My cerclage was scheduled for 7 the following morning. Everything went really wrong from there. What my doctor had feared took place. While on the operating table, my water broke. I had experienced what is know was a PROM. Baby A had lost almost all of her amniotic fluid (Baby A was indeed a baby girl - Baby B a boy. Just what I was hoping for) |
| Everything for the rest of that day was doom and gloom. The doctor told me that for that point on we were just waiting for the worst to happen. He said I would mostly likely develop an infection and go into labor. Since I was only 20 weeks along, my babies had no chance of survival. The doctor only gave me a 5% chance of continuing the pregnancy to a point of viability. Even then chances were slim to none for my baby girl. Without the amniotic fluid, her lungs wounldn't develop fully. |
| So a lot of nothing happened for the next 5 weeks. I stayed in the hospital on complete bedrest, always waiting for the worst to happen. Every day I heard my babies heartbeats. . .2 of them, and both very strong. Every week I got an unltrasound and always saw 2 babies, both growing and moving. I still had no idea what to expect, but my hopes were returning. I knew my babies still had a chance and that's what I planned to hold on to. |
| As I said before, I was there a total of 5 weeks before I delievered my babies. The day after Thanksgiving at 4:30 am, I gave birth to my daughter, Ayanna Karyss. She weighed 1lb 3 oz. She only lived for 4 hours. She never had much amniotic fluid and her lungs were just never able to develop properly. The pressure of the ventilator was just too much for her fragile lungs. Her brother, Keon Amar, was born at 5:15 am. He weighed 1lb 7oz and he had a fighting chace. The photos you see on this page are of him and various points during his NICU stay. He went through a lot, 2 months on the ventilator, various infections, eye problems (ROP), heart problems (PDA), and 2 very large hernias. He was in the hospital for 3 months or 103 days. He came home 1 week after he should have been born. He fought a hard fight and seems to have won. He came home on various medicatoins, direutics to keep fluid from building up in his lungs, aerosals to keep his lungs clear, etc. |
| He also came home with an apnea montior (keeps track of his heart and respiratory rate) and supplemental oxygen. Currently he is still on the oxygen, but nothing else. He is doing extremely well considering what he's been through. Right now it doesn't seem like he'll have any long term difficulties following the ordeal of his birth. He's been on a long journey in his short life. He's my miracle. There will be more pages with more pictures of my guy, and plenty of updates. Enjoy! |
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