The Staph Infection That Almost Killed Him

When Donovan was less thank two weeks old, he got very sick in the NICU. It was Memorial Day weekend on that Sunday morning. I had been discharged from the hospital and was at home with my husband and other sons, Alex and Johnny. I hated leaving my tiny babies, 4 lbs. and 4.10 lbs., there, but this hospital was not set up so I could stay. Anyway, we got a call from the hospital saying that Donovan was not feeling well. That he had a problem that morning but seemed to be stable now. They would call again if there were any changes. At that moment, I wanted to go in right away. I wish I had. Call it denial or it could be put down to just being very tired. They called again. That is it I told my husband. If you won't take me, I will drive myself. Which of course, I wasn't supposed to do because of my stitches. To bad, so sad, I was out of here. When I got there I was shocked. He was white. His skin looked like you could see right through it. Of course, he had the IV's in and the feeding tube, but he also had a larger breathing assistance apparatise on him. He had stopped breathing and he had a breathing tube. My heart rose up into my throat. I moved toward him and leaned in toward him and said, "Donovan, it's Mommy. I am here." At that, as soon as he heard my voice he raised his tiny hand to take my finger. The nurses were stunned. They said he had been totally non-responsive. I stayed with him talking to him, singing to him, and telling him how much I loved him. I told him that I needed him to be strong and to fight to stay with me. We had been through way too much to give up now. My husband and our son Alex arrived a bit after I had. The doctors there had arranged to have him transferred by ambulance to a very good Childrens Hospital that we have in our city. I rode in the ambulance with Donovan and my husband and son followed us in one of our cars. They arranged for the transfer because they didn't know what happened or what caused this problem. When we got to the Childrens Hospital and we got to the NICU the doctor came out to talk with us and I asked her to tell us the truth because it was important to us: did we need to call a priest to give our son not only his Last Rights but also to Baptise him. That was the hardest question I have ever had to ask anyone in my life. I was so afraid that the answer would be "Yes, call the priest." Thank God, she said "No. I am a Catholic also, so I do understand. At this time you do not need to call." Then she told me that they only treat Children there. If I collapsed they would have to send me to the hospital down the street. They got me a wheel chair, I sucked it up, and we went to see our son. I am not going to go into all of the medical jargin and details of what happened other than to say, that he was there for 4 days and they saved his life. he was then transferred back to the hospital where his brother still was. During this time I spent my time going to both of the hospitals to see both of the babies but I spent most of my time with Donovan. It wasn't until the third day there that they were sure of what he had, a staph infection in his blood, and that he was going to make it.
I am thankful for my faith which gave me strength and hope that everything would be okay. I hope that everyone has something like that in their lives to help them through those so very hard times.