Gabriel Fominyam

Born: May 30, 2008

About Gabriel:

Gabriel was a planned home waterbirth baby, born at 6lbs 8 ounces and 16 inches long. His birth was so serene and peaceful and although he was a posterior baby (came out face up), I didn't experience any of the intense back pain usually associated with posterior babies; it was the perfect experience. We had no knowledge of Gabriel's Trisomy 13 because I had only one ultrasound at 13 weeks. My pregnancy with Gabriel was just like my pregnancy with my daughter, very easy and healthy.

After I caught Gabriel and brought him up to look at him I saw a beautiful baby, the next thing that I saw was his small, malformed ear and then the extra digit dangling on his left hand. I remember saying oh, look at his hand and one of my midwives tell me that it was not unusual, especially for black American babies to have an extra digit. She said we could tie a string around it until it fell off. My second midwife asked what the sex of my baby was, and when I saw that I had a baby boy, I cried with joy and my husband yipped with joy also. Gabriel opened his eyes flexed his arms but failed to take a breathe. One of midwives took him from me and tilted his head down, they told me at one of my prenatal appointments that sometimes babies need some help getting some of the fluid out of their lungs so that they can breathe so not to be alarmed if they needed to assist. Even as I'm watching one midwife give Gabriel mouth to mouth and the other hold a stethoscope to check his vitals, nothing seemed off except for when they told my husband to call 911. I screamed "No!" and they calmly told me that it was needed, if anything we could send them away after everything was alright. Time stood still and went by so fast all at the same time as I watched my baby's skin turn blue, when I started crying my midwives told me to keep calm and talk to my baby, to let him know that I was there for him and that he would be okay. Thankfully, after over 8 minutes of mouth to mouth resuscitation, Gabriel's color returned and he started to breathe on his own. Shortly after, the emergency team arrived and asked if we'd like to go to the ER but I declined because the midwives told me his vitals were fine and he was of course breathing, although it was rapid but he was breathing on his own. After the emergency personnel left, I attempted to nurse Gabriel but he wasn't at all interested. We didn't think anything of it at first, I figured he needed a little bit of time but after repeated attempts with no interest at all, I became concerned. My midwives said that he wasn't keeping his temperature up on his own either, we had to warm up some blankets in the dryer several times to keep him warm. After a physical overview done by the midwives that pointed out a number of physical characteristics that were out of the norm (one extra digits on each foot, pinky fingers that wouldn't bend, puffy feet, malformed ear, extra digit on his hand) my husband and I knew in our hearts that something wasn't right. Gabriel never cried and he didn't show any indication that he was aware that I was his mommy. When our midwives told us that at the recommendation of the pediatrician, we needed to go to the ER, this was about four hours after his birth. When we arrived at the hospital an IV was started on Gabriel and a number of tests and taken to the NICU. We had to wait in the waiting area because visitors weren't allowed in the NICU while nurses and doctors changed shifts and were briefed on patients.

For two hours we waited and when I finally spoke with the doctor on the status of everything she told me that based on some of his physical characteristics it looked like he had a chromosome defect so blood samples had been sent to the lab. I asked if there was one disorder in particular that they felt he may have and she told me that it looked as though he had Trisomy 13 and quickly and briefly told me some the characteristics and told me that children with this disorder have severe mental retardation and don't usually survive beyond weeks, sometimes a couple of months. Everything that she rattled off to me was so surreal, the entire situation was surreal. I wanted to be at home nursing and holding my baby boy with my 4 year old daughter and husband. I couldn't and didn't want to believe what I had just heard.

I walked back into the waiting area to tell my husband and midwives what the possible diagnosis was. My husband and I cried and my midwives offered their support and hugged us goodbye. The remainder of Gabriel's 2 1/2 stay in NICU consisted of monitoring and tests and sonograms of his brain and heart. We were told that there were no abnormalities that could be seen in his brain and his heart didn't have any major defects that could be seen although it was on the right side of his chest instead of the left. His breathing continued to be shallow and rapid but his chest was clear. When the test came back that confirmed his Trisomy 13, we were really treated as if Gabriel was doomed. For an additional day and a half, we had our own room with Gabriel, he started to drink breast milk via a nipple shield and a small syringe and by the time that we left he was drinking from a bottle. The stay at the hospital consisted of lots of doctors, a social worker, and someone with Hospice. We left the hospital without any immediate assistance from anyone, took our baby home, knowing that what he needed most of all was to be home with the love, faith, and positivity of his family.

Gabriel is such a blessing and has such a sweet and powerful spirit. He has had some nasal congestion for the past couple of weeks and has some breathing difficulty especially when he cries. We looked down his throat and see a very small air way/throat. He is gaining weight by drinking breast milk that I pump from a bottle. I went to one Pediatrician based on a recommendation but have found him to not be compassionate at all. Right now I'm still searching for a good pediatrician so that I can consult with an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor and an Ophthalmologist. We will also seek a Neurologist because Gabriel does have severla myoclonic jerks during the day.

I'm definitely open to anyone who has suggestions or information that you can provide us. We are still very new to this but I'm glad everyday that our baby angel Gabriel is with us. He is an incredible being.

Parents: Keasha Lee and Henry Fominyam
Feel free to contact me at keashkl@gmail.com