Coleman Presley Phipps
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Coleman Presley Phipps was born to us on January 3, 2005 at 7:32 P.M. weighing 6 pounds 9 oz. All throughout the pregnancy my doctor assured me that everything was o.k. On my last visit she told me that I was dilated to 3cm at 37 weeks and she sent me, my husband, and our children to the hospital to start my Pitocin drip to regulate my contractions. Everything was going fine until the nurse came in and applied Oxygen to me and told me to rotate on my side. She said that baby's heart rate had dropped. About 3 hours later I delivered a baby that blue and purple and was crying. It was the most wonderful time in the world. Everything after that went according to plan. We were released from the hospital 2 days later and told "Congratulations".
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After we were home for a few days, Presley started to spit quite a bit, I took her to the doctor 3 days in a row beginning Jan 17th, only to be told that nothing was wrong and that my baby was fine and all baby's have colic. She had also been very fussy and had a severe diaper rash from too much diarrhea. They changed her formula.
On Jan 22, 2005, I awoke that morning thinking "wow, my baby slept all night" I went to wake her only to find that she was VERY LETHARGIC AND NON RESPONSIVE. I immediately called the doctor who said that I may have to wake her to feed. I tried everything in my power to wake her up. Even gave her a bath in the tub and that did not seem to work either. I rushed her to the nearest hospital and the doctor on call there told me that she needed "a higher level of care" and he called LeBonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis, TN. Presley was on a helicopter within an hour.
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Feb 27, ICU
The next day she was placed on a ventilator because her Carbon Dioxide level was too high and she needed assistance breathing. All the time I am wondering what is wrong with my baby. They ran numerous test including MRI, Cat scan, EEG, Spinal Tap, and drew blood from her tiny veins for what seemed to be days. Finally they came and told us that she had what was known as HSV Encephalitis and that her brain was swollen. They told us that the outcome was very poor for her and that if she did make it that she would have severe brain damage. She was on the ventilator until Feb 22, 2005. After 6 times of trying to extubate her, she failed because of damage done to her upper airway muscles from the infection, We decided that we had just seem the fight of our life and she needed a trach. Along with the trach came the feeding tube and a nissen.
MY WORLD WAS LITERALLY FALLING APART. One minute I have a healthy baby and the next minute she is fighting for her life.
Needless to say that Presley was released from the hospital on March 31, 2005 after 2 rounds of encephalitis and she is now home. she has been diagnosed with CP, Gastric Reflux Disease and Developmental Delay. She is doing everything that a 2 month old would and she is 4 months old now. She is taking the bottle by mouth but her formula has to be thickened to Honey Consistency. She is kicking her legs and smiling and eating her hands and she has just about discovered that she has feet. She is our trooper and one of a kind.
I am very blessed to have her with me today. The doctors told me that if the proper test would have been followed close enough that she this would have never happened to her. Had my doctor done the proper blood test on myself, I would have had to have a C-section and none of this would have ever happened. If only..............that is the question that we are stuck with now.
However I cannot think about the past when I look at her and her beautiful smile. All I think about is "What are we going to do today to make you better"?
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- New Photos July 2005
