Friday, April 17, 2009

Seren's Story



On Monday, April 13, 2009, I went in for my 37 week checkup at my OB's office. She noticed that the heartrate was a little low and ordered a non-stress test. Although the baby's reactivity was ok the base heartrate was low so she sent me to the hospital triage to have the heartrate monitored for several hours. While I was in triage the heartrate remained low but steady, and, because I had slightly low fluid at a previous visit the Doctors ordered an ultrasound. The Ultrasound showed the fluid level was at a three and I was scheduled to have Seren by c-section three hours later.

Before Seren was born we knew her heart and kidneys had some abnormalities but nothing that was considered major. However, after she was born we found out that her corneas were opaque and at least one eye had an optic nerve that was dead. As of right now she has a u-shaped field of vision in one eye where the doctors believe she can see some shapes and light. We initially thought this would be Seren's biggest hurdle.

Seren has not been able to eat because she can't figure out how to suck. This isn't altogether uncommon in newborns but they need to figure it out eventually or this is a sign that their neurological function is impaired. She is currently being fed through her nose and receiving nutrition that way.

An eye exam by a pediatric opthomologist showed that Seren has a condition in her eyes called Peter's Anomoly. Seren's heart and kidneys are functioning well, however, they each have anomolies, that, combined with her eye condition lead Doctors to believe she has an overlying syndrome that would explain the presence of all of these medical conditions in one child. On April 16th Seren suffered a seizure that has raised a new set of concerns. We had her transferred to UNC where several tests are being run to determine a definitive diagnosis and plan of treatment.

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