April 12, 2006

I had my baby on Mon. April 10th, but there were some serious complications. We are in Portland with him right now and are trying to get him better. Here is the e-mail update I just wrote to let everyone know what is going on. Please pass the news on.

Silas is on an ECMO machine which removes his blood (bypassing his heart and lungs) oxygenates it and pumps it back into his body. This is to give his little lungs a chance to recover from the trauma of birth. His shoulders had gotten stuck during delivery and consequently he was without oxygen for about 2 and a half minutes. He also had under developed lungs due to my gestational diabetes. Because of the trauma, his body did not transition to life outside the womb and his circulatory system keeps acting as if he is getting oxygen from his umbillical cord, not from his own lungs. In addition, the doctors figure he also has pnemonia in his lungs.
Silas is stable on the ECMO machine and his oxegen level is stable at this time. We are hoping he can be weaned from the ECMO maybe by Monday. He is kept sedated and slightly paralyzed. We are not able to touch him or talk to him as any stimulation is just another thing his little body would have to deal with.

Prayer Request: Tell any and everyone who'll pray to plead the blood of Jesus over our little Silas's body and brain. We do not know yet (but trust in the Lord) if he will live and it will be a long time before we know how much damage was caused by the lack of oxygen both at birth and during the time before he was put on ECMO. Silas will be at Legacy Emanuel Hospital for at least another couple weeks and when he's ready will be sent back to the NICU at Rouge Valley. Pray for God's strength and wisdom and peace because only in Him do we have these things. Thank you all for your prayers and support that are so precious to us. We will try to update again in a few days.

Love, Tanaya and Albert

P.S. Silas was 10lbs 4oz. He has jet black hair. The bottom half of his face looks like Micah and I and the top half looks like all my Mom's brothers. I can't wait to get a picture to send to all.