On April 10, 2005, our lives changed forever when an emergency C-section was ordered to save Amy’s life. Zachary was born that evening weighing 1 lb 1 oz and was 10 ¾ inches long. Every breath was a struggle from his immature lungs, which wouldn’t have functioned at all without products such as Curasurf® and Infasurf® brought about through funding from March of Dimes. He was intubated and placed on a “hotbed”, where he would be closely monitored for the coming days. As Amy was still TOO sick to leave her hospital room, I was keeping tabs on both of them and trying to comprehend what was going on, and more importantly, WHY? I was told that Zach had about a 50/50 chance of survival and the first 48 hours were the highest risk. As most of you know, Zach made tremendous strides for the coming weeks and things were looking unbelievably promising.
On May 27, 2005, Dr. Chua called and told me that Zach was sick and I should get to the hospital. Upon arrival, I could see in her eyes that things weren’t good, my eight weeks in the unit allowed me to get to know these girls very well. As she worked and ordered test after test, and X-ray after X-ray, I knew in the back of my mind that this didn’t look very good. At 6:00 pm we were told that Riley Hospital was coming to get him because he would need immediate surgery on his intestines, and they were the only hospital that would be able to perform such a delicate surgery. The nurses from Riley worked on Zach feverishly to stabilize him enough to transport to Indianapolis, as he was too fragile to make the trip. I knew that we may never see him alive again, and one of the nurses said for us to go in and give him kisses before we left. We were numb with fear and sorrow, but you go on.
We reached Riley Hospital within an hour. (Many times I was travelling close to 100 mph trying to catch the ambulance) We spent a sleepless night on the floor of a conference room waiting to hear any news. The next morning a doctor pulled Amy and I into a small room and said that he was too sick to recover and he would die. We had to give the OK to disconnect him from his life support before he hurt any more. I am telling you, when you look at the paper that will essentially end your son’s life, and then have to sign your name to it, I wanted to die myself. I have never felt so much pain in my life. When he was disconnected from all of his machines, he was brought into another small room so that he would be able to die with his parents holding him and in quiet. I didn’t want him to die alone, and as painful as it was to us, I knew that’s what parents have to do. He died peacefully while we cried and rocked him alone in that room. May 28 will never be the same to either of us again.
On September 15, 2006 our lives again changed forever. After months of multiple shots per day in the abdomen, Amy could not carry our son any more and he was taken via C-section nearly 5 weeks early. As I sat at the head of the operating table while Dr. Renee Knutson worked to finish the C-section, I heard a sound that I will never forget, and I immediately started to cry once again. We heard a sound that we never heard the entire 8 weeks of Zach’s life, we heard a baby’s cry. Immediately we both broke into tears, and I am telling you that was the happiest momment of my life. Hayden Zachary was born weighing 3 lb 8 oz and was 16 inches long. As I looked around at the familiar faces from the NICU, suddenly I was not afraid. 12 days later, we brought Hayden home and a new, happier chapter in our life began.
Without treatments developed through funding from the March of Dimes, it is highly probable that Hayden wouldn’t be with us either. I know that you are constantly being asked to contribute to variouis organizations, and you can’t give to all of them, but when you see a little baby finally grow enough to leave the NICU, every penny is worth it. We are a sad story that has turned into a happier ending than most would have predicted, and for that we both thank everyone for their support, both past, present and future.
If you have a few extra dollars, please help the little babies out. Team Zach Attack was the top independent team in Lafayette last year, and 10th overall in the state of Indiana and all of this was done without any corporate support. Thanks to all of you and let’s try to be number one in Lafayette, and top five in Indiana. Remember, all donations are 100% tax deductable!
Hayden and all the other “little” guys in the NICU owe their lives to you.
If you WOULD LIKE to donate via the web, please go to the following link:
www.walkamerica.org/ZachsAttack
Also, if you plan to walk with Team Zach Attack in the Walk America, it will be held again at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds. It is an extremely gratifying experience and we would welcome as many walkers as we can. Please let us know by April 14 so that we may order the proper amount of team shirts.
Thanks a million,
Eric, Amy, and Hayden
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