Shane’s Story – A 2% Chance
Lion # 118
Earlier that week we had just announced to our friends that we were expecting our 6th baby. We had an ultrasound just weeks before and everything looked great. We decided to not learn the sex of the baby, we thought it would be fun to be surprised. But he came early to surprise us, maybe we should have found out his gender with our ultrasound, then he wouldn’t have had to show us himself!
I was sitting down that morning with a friend I had not seen in a long time to have a cup of hot chocolate and a nice visit when I went into labor. I wasn’t very concerned because I knew these things happened, usually where the labor would stop quickly and all would be well. I left my friend at home to babysit the kids and drove myself to the hospital thinking I would be back in time to pick my kindergartener up from school. As soon as I walked into the emergency room, things got quite hectic very fast.
After being taken by wheelchair to the labor and delivery where I was given medications to stop the labor, it became apparent that this was not going to end the way the doctors wanted it to. I called my husband on the phone and told him that things were bad. They had me strapped to a table in a vertical position with my head down. I guess so that gravity wouldn’t play a role in the premature delivery of our baby.
I was barely 24 weeks pregnant which made this situation even worse. The doctors told us that we had a 2% chance the baby would survive. They said if the baby lived we could expect brain damage, cerebral palsy, deafness, blindness etc. They said there was nothing they could do and that this baby was coming. They were considering a cesarian section to help prevent brain damage but decided against it and then before we knew it, I had the baby. He was born just 24 hours after I went into labor.
The doctor told us that if the baby was born alive we should just hold him and wait for him to pass away.
But, we love life and will fight to preserve life. We wanted our baby to live. We believe in miracles and we pray for miracles. We prayed for our baby and we named our unexpected miracle Shane. We told the doctors to do every reasonable thing to save Shane’s life. They did do every reasonable thing. And, Shane did live. November 17, 2000 was the beginning of the biggest and scariest roller coaster ride of our lives.
Shane was 12 inches long and weighed under 1.5 pounds. He was about the size of a Barbie doll or Beanie Baby. His skin wasn’t quite formed, his eyes were still shut, and any kind of physical touch caused his heart rate to drop. Since touching him was out of the question, there was no way we could hold him.
In the beginning they were able to use his umbilical cord to give him the necessary fluid, nutrients and medicine that he needed. In addition to using his umbilical cord, he was hooked up to a monitor, oxygen sensor, heart rate monitor and an endotracheal tube to breathe for him and to keep his lungs from collapsing. When they could no longer use his umbilical cord, the regime of multiple IV’s started.
During this roller coaster of a ride, Shane experienced over 5 major heart attacks, one where he was revived with the help of a defibrillator. He had over 20 blood transfusions, surgery and even an epidural (for the surgery).
On our wedding anniversary, December 11th, my husband and I went to visit Shane. Shane was so tiny that we were able to put his father’s wedding ring all the way up his arm to his shoulder. It would have fit up his leg, but we weren’t able to because of all of the IV’s. He was so sweet and so helpless. We really wanted to be able to hold him. Yet we were so scared at the very thought because we didn’t want the tubes to come out, we didn’t want the oxygen tube to come out and have him stop breathing. Plus, we needed his heart rate to stay at a steady rate.
The day finally came when the nurses announced that we were going to hold him. It took 3 nurses to help position Shane onto Gordon’s bare chest. They said it had to be skin against skin to keep the baby warm enough since he would be away from the incubator for the short time we would hold him. I remember Gordon being so scared that he told the nurses he thought he was going to pass out. Then it was my turn, the baby was so tiny. It was an exhilarating feeling to finally have this miracle baby in my arms.
Not every day was a good day, however. There were times when he was so sick that it was all we could do to hold on to our faith. Yet people around us were so strong and so helpful. Everyone was praying on our behalf. Even people we didn’t know. We received e-mails from all over the world telling us that they were praying for our baby. What a miracle that is.
Volunteers did so many things to help us in this trying time. It seemed like every day we came to the hospital there was another tiny stuffed animal in the bed with Shane. It was so great to have something for him to look at. At first he could not see in color so his animal toys were only black and white. Then his beanie babies were changed to color ones as his eyes changed. The doctors kept telling us that he was going to have eye surgery. Another miracle took place though, and he never needed to have surgery.
We were told that the time to take Shane home was approaching. We said, “No thank you.” We weren’t ready for that responsibility. Apparently the hospital won’t take “No” for an answer. We were told that all of us needed to learn CPR for babies. So the kids came with us to the hospital and the nurses taught us what we needed to know to resuscitate Shane if he stopped breathing. It was scary and we all took this education quite seriously.
Then the hospital required my husband and I to spend one night in the hospital with Shane so that we could practice taking care of him with the nurses around for support. Who would have thought that we would need help taking care of our own baby? After all, we have 5 children at home that we had no problem taking care of.
Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2000 we took our miracle baby home, he wasn’t even due to be born until March 9. He weighed less than 4 pounds and did not fit in his car seat. It was such an exciting day. I just wanted to sit and hold him forever.
After a time it became apparent that Shane did not flinch or move when loud sounds were made around him. Of course the testing began, and it turned out that Shane could not hear. The audiologists began talking about hearing aids, sign language, lip reading and cochlear implants. We decided to start learning sign language as a family. Then another miracle of many miracles took place. He was eight months old when he started to hear. One day he was in a silent world, and the next he was hearing and communicating with sounds.
Today Shane is eight years old. He has had much help through special education classes during his preschool years and by kindergarten was transitioned into a regular classroom. He is a second grade student in my 2nd grade classroom.
I can’t describe to you how incredible it is to have him in my class each day. I just can’t help it, I have to give him a hug and kiss at school. This is my one chance to have him with me every day. It is awesome! He is reading above grade level and is doing well in all of his other classes. He loves playing outside with the neighbors, playing with his game boy, and even does ballroom dance. We do have to protect him somewhat because he is at high risk for detached retinas because of his premature birth. He doesn’t play sports that might include some kind of head trauma, but he has many opportunities to do other things. You should see him dance. He loves to draw and sings so beautifully. He is famous for singing Phantom of the Opera as he rides his bike down our street.
Every day people go through times of trial and distress. There are opportunities all around us to reach out and make what may seem to us a very small gesture toward others. From our experience I can tell you that to the person going through the trouble, each small act seems like a great and wonderful gift. We are grateful for all the many acts of kindness shown to us and we try to help others in ways that we are able.
-Shane’s Family
