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Isabella's Story

 

 

Isabella was born on May 21, 2001 at 5:07 PM.  She came into this world after many  hours of hard labor.  She was a healthy, beautiful baby with an apgar score of 9 and 9.  We brought her home three days later and she was hooked up to a billirubin blanket for about two weeks. 

I first noticed her hand when we brought her home from the hospital.  She held her right hand close to her body and her fist closed.  At one of her first “well” appointments, I mentioned it to our pediatrician, who tested her strength, and suggested that we keep an eye on it until the next visit.  The next visit we were still very concerned and we told him about her hand again.  He looked her over and, not being to overly concerned,  suggested that we go to a neurologist.

The day of the appointment, our oldest daughter was not feeling well and my husband stayed home with her.  The neurologist was great with Isabella.  She examined her for over an hour and then walked me into her office.  She suggested that we go for an MRI.  She also informed me that she thought Isabella had had a stroke in utero. 

We went for the MRI in a hospital where my sister works and the testing and sedation went well.  We received the results rather quickly because of my sister .  The results were good.  The MRI showed a completely normal brain.  The doctors called me about two days later to explain that although Isabella’s MRI was normal, she still had suffered a stroke in utero and they suggested physical therapy.

My husband and I are still very concerned with the diagnosis and we are so unsure of what the future holds for Isabella.  We have noticed she has improved with her arm functions, but she is still not able to use it like she uses her left hand and arm. She shows a couple of other symptoms which I am concerned about, but we do not know if any of them are related to the stroke in utero.  She drools excessively since birth and she does this rubbing motion with her right foot onto her left foot.  Like I said we have so many questions and concerns right now and at the same time we are very grateful that she is so healthy.   She is a beautiful, happy child and we feel so blessed to have her in our lives.

Thank you very much for creating this web site and thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Jennifer, Manny, Sophia(4) & Isabella(6Months)

 

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