Be AllHeartsAlways For Baby Hudson....

 

 

 

 

Meet handsome little Hudson, a true survivor and a fighter. Hudson isn't even up to a month old and he's been through so much already. He needs a lot of medical attention/treatment to fix is poor heart and his dear parents need a lot of money to keep him alive. So please read their story below and click on the link at the end to make a donation. Every little helps and nothing is too small.

Please be #AllHeartsAlways for them. Thank you.

 

 

Good night for Mr Hudson. His chest X-Ray looks better. He is passing lots of fluid, and resting comfortably. Hudson has been on ECMO for nine days. At the two week mark the risk of complications will increase. If his heart hasn't recovered very soon a Berlin Heart will replace ECMO, but for that to happen his lung function needs to improve. He will be listed on the organ transplant list Monday. If his heart recovers they can take him off the list, but the Doctors who run the transplant program want him to get in line for a new heart as soon as possible.

How did we get here?

Hudson graced our lives on July 18, 2014 at 5:18. In Military Time that's 17:18 on 7/18. Everything went very well with the pregnancy and labour. Doctors gave him a clean bill of health and we took him home to meet his loving Grandmother, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.
It was the best week of our lives. Hudson was perfect in every way. He was eating well, happy in our arms. Sleeping all day, and awake all night. He is our first child, and we can't imagine loving anything more than we love our handsome Hudson.

Friday morning July 25th was Hudson's 7th day on earth. We were planning on taking him home to Atlanta the following day to show him his new Nursery, and introduce him to our Beagle Banjo. He slept in a bit, fussed as I changed his diaper and dressed him for the day. He ate like a horse, had a nice big burp, and that's when I noticed his breathing seemed a little fast. I Timed his respiration at 80 breathes per minute. A Google search told me the normal range for a Newborn is 40-60. He looked fine, seemed comfortable, and his temperature was normal as well. 

We called his local Pediatrician who asked us to bring him in. When the pediatrician saw him they calmly called the EMT's saying "It was just a precaution, he's fine." Mom jumped in the ambulance with Hudson, and I followed behind. It wasn't until the driver put on his lights and accelerated to over 90 miles per hour that I knew something was terribly wrong. 

Somehow I stayed close enough to the that Ambulance speeding away with everything I hold most dear in this life, parked, and ran to the ER door at Brenner's Children's Hospital just in time to meet Mom as they rolled our Son in. We were greeted by at least a dozen Doctors, Nurses, and Technicians. Another sign of the serious trouble Hudson was in. 

Unable to get him stable they rushed him into the Cath Lab for a look inside Hudson's Heart. The Doctor found nothing structurally wrong, no birth defects with his heart, or any of the surrounding Arteries. Their diagnosis was Cardiomyopathy of an unknown origin, his heart was failing and Hudson was running out of time. 

That's when Doctors asked us to make a terrible decision. Put him on ECMO now at Brenner's or Life Flight him to Duke. They explained that at both hospitals Hudson would be on ECMO, but at Duke, he'd have options should his heart not recover. Duke offers Ventricle Assist Devices such as The Berlin Heart, and Heart Transplants. Brenner's offers none of that. The problem was he was so sick they weren't certain he'd survive the flight. They also couldn't say for certain that once on ECMO they'd ever be able to transport him to Duke. He's be stuck. It was the hardest decision I've ever faced, but I decided to keep him at Brenner's and keep faith. 

Fortunately, we found out days latter that Duke has a very successful Mobile ECMO transfer team. We safely arrived in Durham Thursday. 

Hudson requires 24 hour care. As parents, Sam and I must see to his needs, advocate and help manage his care, educate ourselves about his condition, and most importantly, provide the love and nurturing every baby needs and deserves. It's more than a full time job for each of us, it's our entire life, and we've been uprooted from our home in Atlanta. Between all that, and his medical bills the financial burden is becoming unbearable. It truly kills me to ask, but I'd do anything for Hudson. Please help if you can. Thanks to all who have, and please share this link along to your friends. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for keeping Hudson in your thoughts and prayers. 

http://www.gofundme.com/cdl4wk

— at Duke University Hospital.