Our daughter Hannah Rose was born March 31st, 2003. It seems that she is a victim of a difficult and possibly negligent birth delivery. She was not breathing
at birth due to the umbilical cord being twisted around her 3 times, twice around the neck and once around her lower torso.
She lost oxygen for a long period of time and was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. She has extreme brain damage due
to the oxygen deficiency. The fetal monitor malfunctioned several times during labor. The cable connecting
Hannah's sensor and the monitor was replaced twice because they were losing the signal. None of the hospital personnel thought
to bring in an ultrasound during this difficult delivery. The pregnancy was thoroughly monitored and genetic testing
was done. All negative. Ruthann worked all the way up to the day before delivery and had an event free pregnancy.
Hannah was full term, 6 pounds 12 oz. and an Apgar score of 1 at birth. She coded and was resuscitated and on life support
for over a week, and in the NIC unit at Scotish Rite Children’s Hospital for over a month.
Today, Hannah can't walk, talk or eat or do very much of
anything on her own. She is constantly in therapy to help her in all phases of life. She is in physical therapy,
occupational therapy, hippotherapy (horseback riding), and speech therapy. She sometimes has music and aqua therapy
as well but we have had to cut back on these due to money issues and limited coverage. We are basically doing the
best we can to do everything we can for Hannah and try to keep our heads above water. Our families have been great supporters
especially Ruth's family who lives nearby and takes on a lot of the day care responsibilities while we both work.
It has been a day by day learning and growing experience for
us. Nobody teaches you how to handle this kind of life changing situation. We have learned through this that
there are a lot of caring and loving people out there in the world. Maybe that's one of the many good things that have,
and will come out of this.
The 3 of us appreciate any assistance you can give us.
Thank You!
