LOCAL

(below was all written by Rhonin's mom, Kimberly...)

Rhonin's Fight

6-25-2010...Day 105: Rhonin's echo came back showing a couple mild heart problems, but, on the whole, nothing too serious! We go up Tues. to hear the final plan for her discharge, which will be Friday, July 2nd. We are oh so ready for her to come home and scared at the same time! If you would like to donate a baby gift, we are registered at babiesrus.com under my name, "Kimberly Moss", and city/state "Ellenboro, NC."

She will be on some meds and she'll have to have periodic blood work for awhile...she's on a diuretic and subsequently potassium...she will also come home on some O2...she'll have to have follow-up exams with a cardiologist to keep an eye on her heart, but they won't do any surgery for it (if she needs it) until she's much larger...she'll also have to have regular eye exams to keep an eye on her ROP (retinopathy of prematurity)...and, at $300.00 a visit, I hope the eye exams aren't for too long!

Yes, we still need a few things...it's always hard to know everything you need until you are actually setting things up...we haven't received anything yet but from what Jason says sounds like there are things coming!...we still need blankets, bottle nipples, diapers, wipes, caps, sleepers, and onesies...those would probably be the most immediate needs...oh, and an infant tub...we always just put Azlynn in the shower with us when she was this small...but we can't do that with Rhonin because of the oxygen...most of her preemie stuff is too small for her...she gas got some length to her!...i plan on donating the too small preemie outfits to the nicu...so, we need some newborn clothing...i just keep praying and hoping God will provide...thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

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Babies-R-Us web page... they may have to just use her last name, "Moss", it was easier that way.
http://www.toysrus.com/registry/search/index

Website:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ellenboro-NC/Rhonins-Fight/113251352036271?ref=share

Rhonin's Fight: The mission of this page is to gather prayer for Rhonin and tell her story to many people. Share this page with your friends, family, and even complete strangers. The power of prayer is real and Rhonin is living proof. Help Rhonin fight. Pray 4 her!

General Information:
Rhonin Kilpatrick Moss was born on March 15, 2010 at only 23wks. and 6days gestation. She was born via stat c-section due to a placental abruption. It's already been several weeks and we've been through so many ups and downs. Rhonin is in a fight for her life on a daily basis. She needs all the love, support, and prayer she can get. There is a long road in front of her and us.

I never expected to be where I am now and never even thought about this as being a plausible scenario. It's still a little surreal to me that we are in this situation.

I have a bicornuate uterus with a complete septum. I was always told from an early age that I would probably never get pregant, would need fertility counselling, and would have trouble carrying to term.

To many peoples' surprise, I was able to conceive and carry to a reasonable term two children. Both were carried on the left side of my uterus. One born at forty weeks and one born at thirty five. Due to the fact that I always carried on the left, I naturally assumed that the right side was "defective". The weaker side. Faulty and unworking in some way. I have always had an issue with cysts on that side, too.

Well, when my husband and I went in for our first ultrasound for this pregnancy, imagine our surprise when they told us I was carrying on the right side! My concerns started immediately. However, having delivered two healthy children, I tried to not worry about it too much and wait until there was actually something to worry about.

I became more concerned when I started having contractions at only four months. The doctors would sort of grin or smile and say is was a bit early to worry about pre-term labor. That "cramping" was normal.

I continued to go about my life and work as normal since there was supposedly no reason for concern. I sometimes now wonder if I would've done something different if things wouldn't have happened like they did.

I went to work on Monday, March 15th, 2010 like any other morning. I work in the O.R. and was about to start my first case. I decided to run to the bathroom real quick so I wouldn't have to go in the middle of the case. When I got to the restroom, I noticed a large amount of bright red blood. It stunned me for a few seconds. I guess I wasn't really sure it was real and didn't know quite what to do.

I knew this wasn't good and ran out and told my supervisor I had to go because I was bleeding. I stopped to pick up my husband and off to the hospital we went.

When we got there I told them what was going on and that I was also having contractions. They were having a hard time picking them up on the tachometer. I'm assuming it was due to my uterus.

They tried giving me some drugs to stop the contractions to no avail. Then the doctor came in and said that he was going to give me a steroid injection that helps develop the baby's lungs in case of early labor, but that he didn't see us having a baby anytime soon. He also said that he would have to admit me because you get one shot now and then another in twenty four hours.

Since everything seemed okay my husband decided to leave so he could run home and get a few things to have at the hospital and to do something with our toddler so he could come back. Unfortunately, we live an hour and a half from the hospital. So, I knew it would take a little bit for him to be back.

Not long after he left I was struck with a horrible hard to describe pain. It was sudden and felt like a tearing/popping off of something internally. I screamed out unexpectedly when it happened and became frightened. A nurse came in and I tried to explain it to her, but it just didn't make sense. I think, too, I sounded a bit crazy. Plus, everything seemed to still look fine on the monitors.

She left the room and I was alone...again. Suddenly I felt a huge gush and lots of water poured out. I immediately put on the nurse call light and started yelling that my water had just broke. I don't think they really thought it had happened because they sent a CNA in to check things out. She looked horrified and yelled back that I was correct.

Suddenly the room filled with tons of people and I became hysterical. I knew this wasn't good and I was all alone. The doctor informed me that I needed a stat c-section to deliver the baby.

I was able to get my mother there to go back into the O.R. with me. I'm grateful for that. I know my husband had to have been out of his mind the whole drive back.

Things seemed to go okay and I was relieved to hear that they had stabilized the baby. A baby girl we named Rhonin. She weighed only 1 lb. 5 oz. at birth and was 11in. long. She was delivered at only 23wks. and 6 days gestation. Right on the edge of "viability".

Eventually my husband arrived and I was moved to a room. I thought that was it.

We were told several hours later that I needed to have an emergency second surgery. It appeared that I had massive internal bleeding and they needed to get in there to try to stop it.

I'm not sure how long it took but I woke up with two drains and a lot of pain. They ended up moving me to ICU shortly after.

My body started to shut down from there and there was talk of a third surgery. Only this time it would also involve a general surgeon. They had never found the source of bleeding during the second surgery.

It never happened though. Thank God. My body miraculously started working again...slowly but surely things were coming back. I was eventually moved from ICU to a regular bed and then a few days later released.

We later found out that I had what is called "D.I.C." (disseminated intravascular coagulation). Things were further complicated for myself because I ended up with a bowel blockage and kidney failure. There was talk of doing dialysis while I was in the I.C.U. because all urinary output had stopped.

We've been told by multiple medical professionals that I am a medical miracle. I should not be alive. Also, our daughter, Rhonin, is a medical miracle. She is continuously beating all the odds. There are a lot of hospitals that would not have stabilized her due to her gestational age. But we were blessed to have delivered her at a hospital with an excellent NICU.

She is still fighting her fight and I still have battles of my own. I have permanent kidney damage from everything that has happened and we've been told that I cannot have anymore children. I suffer from extremely high blood pressure due to the kidney damage and have to take multiple medications on a daily basis. Including one that's for my heart.

I have been unable to return to work. Things have been very stressful due to everything that has happened. My husband and I just try to keep faith that God will provide and everything will work out.

I hope everyone out there will read this and believe in miracles. I also hope that you will join us in praying for our little girl. She needs all the prayer she can get to help her fight for her life.

This article was submitted by Toni Jobin. For more information you can contact her at 828-682-9063.

Update on story....

Rhonin is officially coming home on Monday!!! We started all the wheels in motion today. A guy is suppose to come out to the house tomorrow morning to drop off the large O2 tank. Thursday we go up to get her portable O2 tank and monitor. Then, Saturday and Sunday night we will be boarding in at the hospital to make sure we are comfortable with her care. Counting down the days!!! (14hrs ago)


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This page was last updated on Thursday, 01 July 2010 03:04 PM