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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

Shane's family have passed on the following Ryan's Lions:

Lion 118, Lion 426