As 15-month-old Isaac Clark scoots around the room, giggling and playing, you would never guess he was born 15 weeks early at only 1 pound, 14 ounces.
Isaac is this year’s March of Dimes ambassador for Enid. Isaac’s mother, Gina, developed preeclampsia during her pregnancy with Isaac. “He was not growing well. I was sick. My kidneys were shutting down and my liver was failing,” she said.
She also had dangerously high blood pressure and was in danger of having a stroke. “It was time for the baby to come out so mom and baby could live,” said Isaac’s dad, Jason. Gina was put on steroids to help try to develop Isaac’s lungs as quickly as possible.
“One day she woke up and didn’t feel well. We went to the hospitals and they started giving her steroids,” Jason said. “We went to the hospital on Saturday and by Monday we had a baby.”When Isaac was born, he was neither fully formed nor ready to leave the womb.
“The biggest shock for me was his eyes were still fused shut, like a puppy,” Jason said. “In the delivery room he didn’t cry. He tried to breathe. He made two little squeaks like a dog toy.”Isaac’s lungs were not developed enough, and he was unable to breathe on his own. “They immediately intubated him,” Jason said. “He was intubated for eight weeks. They had to keep him sedated to keep the tube in.”Isaac was whisked away as doctors tried to save his life. Gina and Jason did not get to hold him before he was taken away.
For the next 136 days, Isaac lived in the neonatal intensive care unit. “He lived in a box,” Jason said. “It is climate-controlled. Once we got past the fear of him living, we joked about building a baby in a box. All these things that were supposed to happen in the womb we got to see.”
The doctors told Gina and Jason all the development Isaac should have experienced in the womb had to happen in the hospital before he could go home. During Isaac’s stay in the hospital, Gina stayed in Oklahoma City, but Jason had to come back to Enid to work. “It was like a whole new baby each week. It was neat to see how different he was each week,” Jason said. After two months of Isaac being in the hospital, Jason came to visit and received a happy surprise.
“I was scrubbing in and I was excited to see my baby,” Jason said. “When I came in, Gina turned around and handed him to me. It was the first time I got to hold him.”Gina and Jason said it was hard to not be able to assist in the care of Isaac for several months.
“When a baby is born, mom and dad get to hold them and change diapers. The bond is very quick. It is a different experience to have a baby that you can’t hold or feed. It is a struggle,” Jason said. Isaac’s stay in the hospital was an emotional roller coaster for his parents.
“There were good days and bad days,” Jason said. “It was scary because we had all these people telling us what could be wrong with him.”Isaac’s early entrance into the world caused him to have several health problems, some of which may be with him the rest of his life.
“While he was in the hospital, he had five blood transfusions. Because he body was so immature, it was not ready to produce red blood cells. They had to take blood to do blood work, which isn’t very much, but he was very small,” Gina said. Isaac had two courses of medication to close an opening in his heart. He had issues with his eyes due to too much oxygen.
“Most of the lung tissue he had when he was born is scar tissue,” Gina said. “He has chronic lung disease, and it will likely be treated like asthma.”Isaac has faced some delayed development. “It is taking him longer to crawl, walk and talk than other babies, but he is catching up,” Gina said.
Recently, Gina and Jason started the experience of having a premature baby again. Gina delivered daughter Zoey on March 17, 11 weeks early. She weighed 2 pounds, 12 ounces. Zoey still is in the hospital in Oklahoma City, in the same ward her older brother Isaac stayed in.
“Because I had a history of preeclampsia, they watched me closer. At four and half months, I started having problems and was put on bed rest,” Gina said. “I was put in the hospital on complete bed rest before she came.” Gina again received steroid shots to help develop the baby’s lungs, but the medicine had more time to be effective.
“She was bigger and stronger. They say every day in the womb is comparable to seven to 12 days in the neonatal intensive care unit,” Gina said. When Zoey was born, her eyes were open and she cried. Gina also was able to give Zoey a kiss before she was taken away.
With this being the second time around with a baby in the neonatal intensive care unit, Gina and Jason try to encourage other parents. “We try to strike up conversations with parents we see scrubbing in. We try to encourage them. We know how scary it is,” Jason said.
When Gina and Jason were approached about Isaac being the 2011 March of Dimes ambassador, they were more than happy to support the organization.
“We are so thankful for March of Dimes. We have been impacted in no small way by March of Dimes,” Jason said. The neonatal intensive care unit that both Isaac and Zoey were in was funded by March of Dimes.
“They fund a lot of research for premature babies. A lot of the things that saved his life were funded by the March of Dimes,” Jason said. The Clark family speaks to anyone who might be interested in March of Dimes about the organization and their experiences.
The March of Dimes’ March for Babies is a four-mile walk starting at 10 a.m. Saturday at David Allen Memorial Ballpark. Registration begins at 9 a.m. Other activities include tethered hot air balloon rides and a family picnic for participants.