Many women experience the joy of pregnancy and look forward to the day she gives birth to her precious child. On October 24, 2006, was supposed to be that day for me however, it seemed like everything was falling apart. As my midwife at the maternity center prepared me to give birth to my precious son, Nicholas by checking my vital signs, she discovered Nicholas heart rate was rapidly decreasing. With no success of stimulating a normal heart rate, paramedics were called in so that they can rush me to the nearest hospital. Things appeared surreal. This could not be happening to me or my son as I patiently waited for the paramedics to arrive.
Several hours later, as I recovered from the anesthesia from having an emergency cesarean I found out that Nicholas was alive! Yet, he suffered a lot of damages. While waiting for the paramedics he swallowed meconium. Moreover, he had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and his heart rate dropped dangerously to 30 beats per minutes! GOD only knows how long my baby suffered without oxygen. If matters could not have gotten any worse, Nicholas suffered from seizures less than 24 hours after being born because of the lack of oxygen he endured during birth. Because of the seizures, Nicholas was transferred by a helicopter to Miami Children’s Hospital were he remained in care for 1 month and 3 days.  While being cared for at Miami Children’s Hospital, Nicholas had a procedure called Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) which provides both cardiac and respiratory support to him since his heart and lungs were so severely damaged from the meconium asphyxiation that he could no longer serve their function on his own.
Finally, when Nicholas arrived home my husband and I was overjoyed! All we ever wanted was for Nicholas to be home with us.  Yet, as we notice Nicholas interactions with us, deep down in our heart we knew developmentally, cognitively and emotionally he was not with us. Nicholas was not the “average” baby. Devastated, we sought answers from doctors and specialists. We became educated and empowered. We took Nicholas to receive early interventions. He received physical, occupational, and speech therapy on a daily basis. In addition, Nicholas received chiropractor care and Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment. Yet, through it all nothing seemed to avail much.
On August 6, 2009, I came into contact with a faculty of physical, occupational, and speech therapist that specialize in Intensive Suit Therapy. Intensive Suit Therapy is a program that focuses their attention in helping special needs children reach their fullest potential in life with the aid of the Suit Method, Universal Exercise Unit & Spider Cage, and Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment. I have learned through other parents receiving treatment for their kids at Therapies4Kids and with words of advice from Nicholas’s therapist at Cora Rehab Intensive Suit Therapy is highly recommended to be effective because it improves the sensation to and from the joints, ligaments, and muscles, restores accurate patterns of movements, increase weight bearing for normalized sensory input regarding posture and movement, and decrease abnormal reflexes.
Looking back, we have been through a lot. It has almost been one bad report after another, yet we’ve remain strong. Today, Nicholas is 34 months old and he attends the Debbie School which specializes in helping special needs children. He has grown so much and I am so proud at his achievements, however he could not have done it all by himself. As a parent, I would love to give Nicholas the world. However, because of financial limitation my husband and I are left to give him second best, which sometime is not enough. Today, we want to provide Nicholas the best. We want to provide him hope and the potential to reach his fullest potential in life and by doing so involves your help. I thank you for the support and God Bless.