My newest grandson, Shay Michael, arrived last Thursday, 4/17/16, in the wee hours of the morning.
Mom and Dad were so surprised it was a boy. This their firstborn, they decided to not find out the gender of the baby.
Shay came home in a rare April snowstorm on the Saturday after his birth.
Something didn't seem right about him. He looked jaundiced but was acting sort of normal, yet something didn't seem right.
On Monday, my son-in-law called to reschedule the appointment for Thursday to the earliest we could get. We got a Tuesday appointment.
Dr. said yes he appeared jaundiced but his neurological exam showed great reflexes and he seemed to be active. Under direct sunlight, the jaundic appeared less yellow. She chalked the florescent lights with making him appear more yellow than normal.
All this but to be sure, she wanted up to stop by the hospital on the way home and have bloodwork done. This would be fresh blood being tested v. having to wait for a lab to pick up specimen from office and possible coagulation.
So we did. My daughter and I stopped by a hospital on the way home and had bloodwork done.
Shortly after arriving home, the doctored called with the results... very high and she wanted to know if we wanted to go back to where he was born on into the city to CHOP. We chose the hospital where he was born. My daughter is an ER nurse in that same hospital and going elsewhere would prove a hardship on the pocketbook. Good news is that this hospital has doctors from CHOP at their location. (it's bull_hit that a person working at a medical facility known for it's trauma unit has such crappy insurance and has to provide care to so many people who 'don't have insurance' who never have to pay for it... sorry, another post, another rant about Obamacare.)
From the time we had the blood count at the hospital on the way home to the hospital he was admitted to, it had risen 6 more units, up to 30! YIKES! Normal is 0 to 5...
It got to the point where my daughter needed me by her side because she was going to lose it with the things Shay had to face... possible brain damage, cerebral palsy and a possible complete blood transfusion. The Red Cross had been called to bring in the special blood needed.
It was about midnight and I put on clothes and headed up to be with my daughter and her husband and Shay.
Since that time, he's made many small successful steps and we are very grateful for the many prayers that we received.
Please say a prayer if you have a moment. Although Shay shows improvement, he's not out of the woods just yet.
