Eric B S arrived via a scheduled c-section 7/01 at 9:35am,5lbs 4oz,

17” long. (apgars 7,9)

The entire pregnancy had been uneventful for ultrasounds etc. with no reason to suspect a problem.  I gained 21 pounds and felt and looked pregnant.  When the doctor delivered Eric he discovered that I had no amniotic fluid.  My water had not broken so the lack of fluid was a mystery. 

(Day 1-2)

About 6 hours after birth Eric developed a difficulty breathing; he was sent to our hospital's NICU with one collapsed lung (pneumothorax). After one lung healed, the other lung collapsed.  While under an oxygen tent for treatment Eric’s doctor discovered that his bladder was distended and not emptying. The cause was found to be what is called “posterior urethral valves”.  These are little flaps of tissue that close in the urethra, holding in urine and causing it to back up into the kidneys. It is a congenital defect (defect you are born with) that affects 1 in every 8000 boys.  Since babies recycle a mom’s amniotic fluid in later stages of pregnancy this is the reason I had no fluid. The fluid Eric swallowed was never excreted back into the placenta, it was just absorbed out of him. Urine backed up from his bladder into his kidneys for a least 5-6 months and no one had a clue otherwise. My last ultrasound was 4/2001 and everything appeared ok, except for Eric having a full bladder, which was not alarming at the time. The lack of amniotic fluid caused Eric’s lungs to have difficulty inflating after delivery, which in turn caused a strain on his heart. By the end of the second day of life the collapsed lungs had healed, only to present us with what’s called persistent pulmonary hypertension (of the newborn) a/k/a PPHN, his heart was having trouble sending blood to the lungs for oxygenation. The heart valve (PDA) that usually closes at birth, stayed open. This caused his blood pressure to go crazy and skyrocket (110/117).

(Day 3-4)

On day 3 he was in danger of dying from lung and heart failure without the help of a high frequency ventilator and nitric oxide treatments to relax the spasms in his lungs. For these treatments he was transported to our childrens hospital's NICU. He didn’t respond well to the nitric oxide, his blood oxygen level (O2 Saturation) was only 50%. Eric was approved to go onto an ECMO machine (heart/lung machine for infants). What a nightmare! This ECMO machine was not available in the entire state of Connecticut, so we had to emergency transport Eric to Boston Childrens Hospital’s NICU later that same day. Thankfully after he arrived in Boston (after a 2 hour ambulance ride) his condition had stabilized enough so that he never had to be put on the ECMO machine. The nitric oxide treatments worked at higher doses than had been given at either of the two previous hospitals.

(Day 5-11)

Eric improved enough after 5 days to be removed from the ventilator. 

(Day 12-25) 

 At 12 days old he underwent a 61/2 hour long operation to drain his kidneys by opening two slits (about ¾” long) on each side of his abdomen so that his ureters (the tubes leading from the kidneys to the bladder) could excrete urine from his body. This allowed his bladder to rest and the strain on the ureters and kidneys is relieved. Eric will need another operation in a year to reconnect the ureters and cut away the posterior urethral valves that caused the whole situation in the first place. He will also need corrective surgery for hyposapadias on his penis (the opening is in the wrong place). Afterwards his urinary tract should be fine. Eric’s kidneys suffered while in utero and only time will tell how well they function and if he will need a transplant. For now at least he can make urine and does not need dialysis.  Eric will be having surgery on 11/01 to correct a inguinal hernia that appeared shortly after our discharge from Boston on 8/01.  Right now he is on four long term medications for high blood pressure, metabolism, prevention of infection and anemia. Life since we came home from the hospital has been a dizzying blur of doctor and hospital visits.  Eric is now approx. 20” long and weighs 9lbs 11oz. He looks a lot like Bob and Stephen with a little of me thrown in for good measure. He is a cutie pie, happy to be home and diligently working on lifting his head up and growing BIG.

Written 10/01