Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

On September 15th, Katy and Andy found out that Baby Jacob has a life-threatening condition called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). CDH is a very serious condition in which a hole in the diaphragm allows abdominal organs to move into the chest restricting lung development. In Jacob's case, his liver is also squishing his heart and displacing other organs. CDH occurs in about 1 out of every 3,000 pregnancies and has a mortality rate of 50%. To make matters more complicated, Jacob has Right-Sided CDH which only occurs in about 10% of CDH cases and is typically more severe. They are so blessed to have found this out when they did, or Baby Jacob would have surely died at birth.

They will be delivering at UW Hospital in Seattle and later transferred to Seattle Children’s. Thank you to everyone who has already begun praying, and everyone who will now. Baby Jacob is blessed to have all of you thinking and praying for him.

Showing your Love and Support

Oct 19, 2011

Many have asked how they can help or what specifically they should be praying for. Andy's and Katy's friend (who wishes to remain anonymous) sums it up nicely.
An excerpt from the above tab "Words from a Mommy of a CDH Survivor":
I guess what I want to end with, is to tell those people who will love, support, and pray for the Rondeaus as the go on this journey, that it is a ROLLERCOASTER. There are SO many highs and lows with CDH.  They will need to have you celebrate the little successes (like diaper changes or weaning the ventilator settings “just a little”) and they will need tremendous support during their lows (and unfortunately, there will be those lows). They will need prayers, loving thoughts, offers of help, and listening ears. It is horrible feeling to see your child hooked up to SO many things and not being able to do anything to help them.  You lose a sense of time and place, just having to wait and see how they do, each hour of each day and not knowing when there is an end in sight.

Sitting by a NICU bedside hour after hour is exhausting- watching those monitors will become their life, so give them all you have. Love on them, tell them you care, comment on their blog with your wishes of quick healing for Jacob.  Pray for no ECMO, stable days and nights, a repair surgery soon after he is born, lots of lung tissue under all those organs, and peace for Katy and Andy to help make decisions with the team of medical professionals that will be caring for Jacob.
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2 comments:

  1. Shelly M.October 20, 2011 at 1:00 PM

    Just heard about baby Jacob's story & we are wishing Jacob & your family many prayers as you start this next phase in your CDH journey.

    Prayers heading north from Oregon!
    Shelly M.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Andrew RondeauOctober 20, 2011 at 2:23 PM

    Thank you so much for your prayers and support. It's very comforting to us to know people we don't even know are lifting us up in prayer.

    ReplyDelete

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