Under My Bed

I'm out of town in Sacramento for the time being.  Trying, more than anything to kill time.  We made the choice to have surgery done on my son today.  In order to rid off anxieties and to answer questions people have the best I can, I'm going to write about what our boy has been going through since his birth (as well as a song playing in my head this morning, since this is a music blog anyway!)

Megan had gestational diabetes during her pregnancy with Jude.  Pregnancies like this result in a larger baby.  Jude was born 2 1/2 weeks premature and was 9 pounds 12 ounces.  He was born on December 2nd, and the delivery didn't go as smoothly as planned, mainly because of his size and the fact that his head was turned the wrong way. 

What happened is that in order to turn Jude's head the right way during the delivery, the doctor used forceps to both turn his head and to guide him out.  Because of this, there was some nerve damage in his neck and as a consequence Jude has had little movement in his left arm. 

In most cases, the baby recovers on his own and learns to adapt to the nerve damage.  At first, Jude's arm was totally dead with no movement at all, but he made progress and was able to move his fingers a bit and elevate his arm a little.  We had hoped that this meant he would recover on his own and were given a six month window to wait for this to happen.  When it didn't happen, we chose to come see a specialist at the Shriners Children's Hospital in Sacramento. 

The surgery was this morning, and what they discovered is that of the 5 main nerves in Jude's neck, 3 were damaged.  Nerve 1 was severed but they could see both ends of the break.  Nerves 2 and 3 were also severed but they could only find one end of the nerve.  Nerves 4 and 5 were fine. 

What they did is incredible, and I will marvel even more if he recovers completely (there is a high recovery rate for this type of procedure.)  They took a good nerve from the back of his leg and used it to fuse the first nerve together.  Then they took what they could find of nerve 2 and 3 and connected it to nerve 1.  Forgive my simple terms, but this is how I understand it best.  Although what they did for the 2nd and 3rd nerves isn't ideal, they have been able to get them working right by matching them to other nerves. 

The hardest part is to come.  He is in a cast that elevates his arm in the air and will have to stay in that position for 4 weeks.  We cannot immerse him to bathe until the cast is off, sponge bath only.  It's not the incisions that will give him discomfort so much as the cast and I'm sure that this will be a challenge for a wiggly and active little boy. 



Recovery on average takes 6 months to a year.  This will slow down his ability to crawl and sit up as quickly as most babies do.  This is hard for me as a father, but I see the bigger picture and will be forced to be patient.  There is also a possibility that he will need more operations in the future- but that is all contingent upon how well his arm works from this surgery. 

We had the pleasure of meeting an 8 year old boy who had the same type of injury when he was born and were happy to know that his arm and hands were fully functional.  He can play baseball and the piano and looked healthy and happy.  Once Jude can do Jazz Hands, we will sleep well at night and will feel sure about his future!  (I have to say Ha Ha Ha here so nobody thinks I'm serious.) 

As of now, 2 hours after the surgery, he is doing great but he is very very sleepy.  We are just waiting for him to wake up so we can give him a drink. 

As far as music goes, even though I'm sure I lost everyone paragraphs ago, the song in my head today was by a singer-songwriter named Amy Kuney.  My sister (who introduced me to this music) has a whole bunch of good female artists like Amy Kuney if you're looking for some good suggestions.  The song is called "Under My Bed" and somewhat fittingly seems to be about innocent youth.  I'm terrible with lyrics and only looked at them briefly so maybe I'm missing something.  It's about sneaking out, and youthful mischief too, and some other stuff.  It's a good song.  Shut up Brady and play the clip.

I wrote this post really fast, so I'm sorry if there are spelling or grammatical errors or if nothing makes sence.  I also need to thank everyone for the outpouring of support we've received in regard to Jude's surgery today.  We love him so much, and this has not been easy.  My parents and in-laws are watching the other kids.  We've been fed now 3 times by a dear aunt of mine and an old friend from my childhood who caught wind that we'd be in town.  A friend put us up at a nice hotel for a huge discounted rate.  Thousands of good thoughts and prayers have been sent in our behalf.  My employer has encouraged me through this and provided coverage at my job as well as paid leave... and I'm sure there's much more I'm forgetting. 

We truly are blessed, especially to be in a country where this type of surgery is possible.  It's been a long day, and more is to come- but how can you not feel like so much more good than bad is happening in your life on a day like today?