We are posting a little later this morning, because we wanted to wait for rounds to finish before writing. The source of Jude's fever has been found. Unfortunately, it is not good news. Jude has been diagnosed with meningitis. We are waiting for further test results to know whether it is viral or bacterial. This is completely unrelated to his heart and is a whole new uncommon thing that babies can get. Our hope is that it was caught soon enough and antibiotics started quickly enough that he may be okay. I (Misty) honestly didn't know much about meningitis in newborns until last night. Jesse obviously has much more experience in this field. What I've learned since then has been heartbreaking. Both short-term and long-term effects are currently unknown and we just have to wait and see. I know Jude is a fighter and I sincerely hope he can pull through this; however, it is getting harder to keep our heads up.
Yesterday the amount of sticks for tests was so hard to watch your newborn go through. In the past 48 hours he has had a blood transfusion, echo, ultrasound, LP (lumbar puncture), 3 blood draws, a heel stick, and urine analysis. In the afternoon they gave him morphine to help with the LP, so he was pretty out of it. We are loving on him constantly now and he is eating well.
When our two older boys left yesterday, we were all upset. In an effort to not cause them further stress, we have chosen not to tell them about the seriousness of Jude's situation. It would just cause them to worry, and we want to protect them from that for now. They know Jude is sick, but not the seriousness of his sickness.
We will continue to update everyone as we get more results in.
My oldest was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis when he was two months old. They caught it quickly and he was hospitalized for over two weeks. He is now 35 and the only residual he has is a scar on his ankle from one of his iv sites. Now that they know, hopefully the tide will turn. The power of prayer is amazing. By the way. Are you aware that St.Jude is the patron saint of hopeless cases? Your baby has a wonderful, strong name. Many hugs to you all.
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