Dax had to spend the first night he was born in the NICU. Monitoring his brain activity was recommended to rule out seizure activity. We were hopeful that the symptoms the doctors were concerned about were from the delivery; Dax had twitching/contractures, hypertonia (very tense muscles), and rocker bottom feet. Sometimes if there’s trauma during labor, babies can experience hemorrhaging around the brain (Dax was in the canal for a period of time). Hemorrhaging around the brain can cause irritability to the central nervous system, which could be the cause of the twitching and tense muscles. The first neonatologist that examined Dax also explained to us that if there was low amniotic fluid during pregnancy, that could cause the feet/limbs to appear “squished”. We were hopeful and optimistic that Dax would pass the test and we’d have our baby home with us in a couple of days.
We woke up early on February 9th and went to room 40 to see our baby. This was our first time really holding him and spending time with him since he was born. Anxiously waiting for answers, the doctor finally made his rounds and came to our room. He told us that the history shown on the EEG didn’t show any seizure activity. We were relieved for maybe 5 minutes. The doctor hit us with our first freight train and told us that he had to double check and do a second test to make sure there was absolutely no seizure activity. The doctor also wanted to send out a genetic test to rule out Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18, and Trisomy 21. We were disappointed and scared that we still weren’t out of the dark yet. That night, Dax was hooked up for 24 hour brain monitoring. Dax was thriving on his own – his heart rate, oxygen level, and respirations were all within normal limits. We were hopeful that night that Dax would pass the test. We were trying to remain optimistic, even though the fear and worry was getting stronger.
The Story of Dax Wilder 