"We said just do it": Mum recalls moment her newborn son fought for his life
After a seemingly straightforward birth, Brooke Ryan didn’t expect the almighty commotion that saw her son fighting for his life.
Brooke gave birth to her third son, Kaiden, in 2016 and said there were initially “no problems or issues”.
“They did notice some of his vitals were changing, his blood sugar was fluctuating, and his APGAR (newborn screening test) score was worse than it was at first so they said they needed to take him away to monitor him,” the 36-year-old told 9Honey.
It wasn’t until later that she and her husband Julian heard and saw the hospital sirens and lights go off, only to find out Kaiden had stopped breathing and that medical staff were attempting to resuscitate him.
Kaiden was then treated for meningitis, a worse-case scenario, while staff investigated what caused the sudden change.
The next day, he was transported to Randwick Children’s Hospital, and Brooke had to discharge herself from the hospital she’d given birth in to be with him, her husband, and her sister Ashley.
“When we got there the surgeon told us Kaiden had suffered a massive bleed on the back of his brain and that they would need to operate to remove the blood or he wouldn’t survive,” Brooke said.
“They also said in all likelihood he wouldn’t survive the operation because he was only hours old and he only had so much blood in him.
“We said just do it.”
With no apparent alternatives, Kaiden went into surgery, but his parents were only able to see him after it finished.
“He was so swollen and he had all these tubes and machines and everything just all around him,” Brooke recalled.
Kaiden survived the surgery and “got stronger and stronger every day”, but there was no mention of brain damage at any of his monthly checkups.
“They told us a blood vessel in his brain had burst and ruptured but they didn’t know why,” Brooke said.
“When we got to about eight weeks we were telling them he was wobbly and had a floppy neck. It wasn’t getting stronger. They kept telling us he’d had major brain surgery and they’d had to cut through the muscle in the back of the neck and it would take a long time for him to recover.”
Eventually doctors picked that something was amiss and began to suspect Kaiden had Cerebral Palsy (CP).
“When I thought of CP I thought of people in wheelchairs who can’t do anything for themselves,” Brooke said.
The family soon connected with the Cerebral Palsy Alliance (CPA) when Kaiden was seven months old and he was able to start physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
Kaiden wasn’t formally diagnosed with the condition until he was 18 months old.
Now five-years-old, Kaiden only needs assistance physically, and he receives plenty from his parents, two older sisters, and the CPA.
“(His sisters) are very protective of Kaiden, very, very, very motherly,” Brooke said.
“But they are so compassionate, patient and understanding. They would give him anything. I keep saying we are so lucky to have him.”
Images: 9Honey