2/16/2004

The happiest and most sad day of my life. My beautiful baby boy came into the world.
Due to a ruptured placenta, his oxygen was cut off and he needed to be born emergency c-section, 2 weeks early. It was the first time I heard the words ....
Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy I was told he may have some brain damage. I am still learning how severe it is. He was immediately sent to another hospital 2 1/2 hours away. I had to remain behind in the local hospital.

After 2 weeks of testing & treatments he was released with a g-tube & brief, basic instructions how to feed him. When Jordan wasn't sleeping he was screaming. This went on for weeks. He would scream so hard he would fall into a deep sleep from exhaustion. It was very scary & we did not know what was causing it. After consulting with a neurologist, he was diagnosed with seizures & put on phenobarbital. The medicine did not help the screaming. Also noticed at this time, Jordan would become unnaturally stiff, and arch his back. Still, we were unsure of the cause for the screaming. He had a brain injury, perhaps his head hurt. two "regular" parents had no clue of any other reasons for his unusual behavior. We knew Jordan had some problems but had no idea to the extent of the damage.

We were told very vague prognosis, not knowing how much or if the brain would heal. All we knew at that time was he lost his suckling reflex & was having seizures during these screaming attacks. We were not told what was reality.