Smith Twins Birth Announcement !!

Subject: RE: Smith Twins Birth Announcement !!
From: jeffp
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 01:19 PM

Gee, Wesley, it's hard to know what to say. Be assured that you have my fervent prayers for little Patrick. I do hope everything turns out well for all of you.

jeffp

Subject: RE: Smith Twins Birth Announcement !!
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 01:16 PM

Wesley and Bretta,

I will of course pray for you all as will Greg, and I am pasting this to the prayer chain. Since you are a participating member, and have asked here for all prayer, I'll assume you'd approve, and I will ask people responding to post to you here, not in e-mail, so your inbox does not clog up.

We love you all dearly, Wesley, and I'll take all my late night sleeplessness now and use it to stand guard with our Lord over your family... and the hospital folk... singing... and praying His awesome will be done in fully abundant grace.

~Susan

Subject: Smith Twins Birth Announcement !!
From: Wesley S
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 01:10 PM

Hello friends - it's been a rollercoaster of a week. My wife Bretta gave birth to two boys last Wednesday the 13th at a little after 5 in the afternoon. She was 32 weeks along in her pregnancy.

Brendan James Smith came into this world at 3 pounds 10.6 ounces and measured 13 inches long. He has already gained some weight since last Wednesday and appears to be a healthy boy considering his weight.

Patrick Tate Smith came into this world at 4 pounds 12.5 ounces and measures 14.25 inches long. He , however has some big problems. Unrelated to the premature birth Patrick was born with a coarctation of the aorta, a main artery coming out of the heart. It's a narrowing or constriction and it wasn't letting enough blood through. One of the nurses noticed that his blood pressure in his legs was lower than in his arms. The doctors suggested surgery. It was planned for the next day. We were told that he had a one in ten chance of not making it through the operation.

The next morning while his surgical team was working on their first operation of the day { Patrick was to be second } his cardioligist { sp? } came and told us he had found a complication. Blood clots were building up near the coarctation. He might be the opposite of a "bleeder". Now his chances were one in three. So at the ripe old age of 44 HOURS old the doctors went into his chest. They put him on ice to put him in suspended animation and drained all the blood out of his body. They fixed the aoreta with a patch of human tissue and we hope they got all of the blood clots out. Some of the clots had been forming before birth so if he had not been born when he had he would have had a stroke and died before birth. He came through the operation OK but they still haven't closed up his chest yet in order to give the heart a chance to reduce the swelling. It's been touch and go ever since. We were very worried about brain damage because his eyes were fixed and dialated for so long but that seems to have cleared up. He had a normal EEG. Our biggest problem now is the kidneys. His urine output is low and the doctors call it life threatening. It's just a wait and see situation.

A good friend knows some of the doctors and assures us that all of the cardioligists in the hospital are looking in on the situation because it's so unusual. That's not really how you want your children to get attention. We are very confident that Patrick is getting the best of care. He's at one of the best childrens hospitals in the nation and his team is top notch. God bless the nurses and doctors for what they are able to do.

Bretta came home from the hospital last night and let me tell you that was one tough ride home for both of us leaving the boys behind. We are fortunate to live only three miles away from the hospital.

Please join me in rejoicing in the births of both sons. We are so pleased with Brendan { he has the worlds smallest sneezes } and we look forward to someday taking both of our sons home. Any prayers, thoughts or songs for Patrick will be gratefully accepted. We believe in a higher power that we happen to call God. If you don't - thats OK - pray to whomever you feel like. We are holding on to the idea that this is the season of little babies and miracles and we could use a few right now. Hearing the songs of the season about "infants tender and mild" are a little surreal. Christmas for us is on hold this year. Thanks in advance for your concern. I'll give you more news when we get it but as you can imagine my posts will be infrequent.

Thankyou - Wesley Smith