Jacob Price "Jack" DeVol

Thursday April 30, 2009 1:51 PM 7lbs. 2oz.

On Thursday, my sister's baby had to be delivered via c-section. We knew she was going to need a c-section, and it was originally scheduled for May 5th. But problems with the baby led to it being moved up.

A few years ago, Shannon needed an emergency blood transfusion. The blood she received was not an exact match with her own and so her body developed antibodies against certain proteins in the donor blood. This can become a problem when she's pregnant because her own body will attack her baby's blood if any of these proteins are present. I hope that was a decent enough explanation.

Throughout her pregnancy, the baby was monitored to make sure he did not become anemic (a sign that his blood was being destroyed by antibodies in Shannon's body). He did great all along, but last week Shannon noticed he was moving less and scheduled an ultrasound with her doctor. The doctor felt that the baby was becoming anemic and had to be delivered early to receive a transfusion. We all - including the doctors - thought he would be delivered, receive a blood transfusion and then be a normal, healthy baby.

Unfortunately, Jack's body had trouble accepting the transfused blood. Each time the doctors would give him a transfusion (3 total, I believe), his own blood would break down the donor blood. This caused him to become more severely anemic as the oxygen level in his blood dropped lower and lower. Because he did not have enough oxygen circulating in his body, his organs began to fail. His liver became a main concern and he was transferred to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. When he arrived at CHOP on Friday night, he was in such bad shape that they did not expect him to survive the night. As soon as we heard about his condition, Jamie and I headed right up to New Jersey to be with him and my family.

Thankfully he made it through the night, and continues to fight. His liver and kidneys were a main concern because he did not appear to be passing urine. This caused him to become very swollen as the fluids they were pumping into him were not being passed through his system. Thankfully, a check of his catheter showed it had become dislodged and when it was replaced, he passed a large amount of urine. A baby peeing has never been such good news before!! It means that his liver and kidneys are functioning at least to some extent and already the swelling has begun to subside.

The long-term effects on his system are not yet known. Currently he is in stable but serious condition - an upgrade from last night, but he's still no where near out of the woods. He may continue to surprise us by regaining more and more organ function, but as of right now, we just don't know. If he makes it, we're not sure what organs will be effected and what problems this may cause long-term. A brain scan was performed earlier today and hopefully we'll know the results sometime tonight.

Please keep little Jack in your thoughts and prayers, as well as his family - especially Shannon as she tries to be there for her little boy and recover from her c-section. She was discharged barely more than 24 hours after the procedure to accompany Jack to CHOP. Right now, every time we've prayed for a miracle, our prayers have been answered. Pray this continues!! My whole family appreciates the prayers and support from everyone!!