About Me

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This is a page about Zachary David Stafford born March 2, 2008!

Daddy making me laugh!

Fun in my excersaucer!

Nana and the boys at Halloween!

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

April 29, 2008

Today was a WONDERFUL day! It has been well over 72 hours and the culture for Zachary's infection is still negative!!! They are going to continue to watch it for the next few days just to make sure. Also, they did a MRI on him this morning to make sure that there were no pockets of bacteria built up on the damaged part of his brain and the doctors said that the results looked exactly like they wanted them to look and that everything checked out!!!! PRAISE GOD! We have had nothing but great news today! Also, he weighs 2 pounds 13 ounces and is getting bigger!! We will keep you all updated on the continued results of his bacteria sample. Love you all!!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

April 26, 2008

Zachary is doing well today. They took the stitches out of his head this morning and it looks so much better! Ken and I looked at the ultrasound results from his head scan and it turns out that 30% of the left side of his brain is damaged from the bleed that he had earlier in his life. It also showed that the ventricles are still swelling up and they are doing ventricular taps on him to drain the fluid when it builds up. The doctor told us that he can almost guarantee that he will need a shunt placed for the rest of his life. We appreciate all of the prayers and kind thoughts through this process! We all need to remember that these doctors are practicing medicine and that there is only one who knows what his life will be like. We all need to keep our faith strong and trust that God will have mercy on him.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

April 22, 2008


Zachary is doing well today. The only huge update is that we're still waiting on this bacteria to go away so that he can continue his recovery. Please continue to pray for his brain developement. The doctors said that not only did the bleeding damage his brain, but the bacteria can also attack the dead tissue and kill more tissue in his brain. The doctors also said that other then this infection, Zachary is a really healthy baby! Praise God!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

April 20, 2008

So sorry its been so long! It has been a pretty busy lately. My mom and grandparents came into town over the weekend and my mom was able to hold little Zachary for the first time!! As you know she just melted! He is doing well. They have cleared the bacteria from his blood but he is still carrying the bug in his spinal fluid but it is starting to be killed by the anti-biotics so we will just continue to pray for that to be taken care of. I'll try to be better at updating you all! :)

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

April 15, 2008

Today has been a rough day. Last thursday Zachary had a reservoir placed to drain the spinal fluid from the hydrocephalus that was building up. On Friday he was doing wonderful and they extubated him and placed him strait on nasal cannula and he was on room air! On Saturday night he became lethargic and started having bradi's every minute to two minutes. they then placed him back on the ventilator and ran some tests. Turned out that he now has bacterial meningitis. The bacteria is a gram negative bacteria called serratia marcescens. According to Infectious Disease team this is a pretty serious bug. Because it is so hard to kill, they immediately took him into the OR and removed the reservoir and gave him a dose of gentimycin to go ahead and start attacking the bacteria in the spinal fluid. He is now stable and we are just waiting until this is cleared out of his body. That is the update for now. I will try and remember to keep you all posted! Thanks for all the prayers!! We love you all!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

April 12, 2008

Today has been a pretty good day. They have cleared Zachary to return back to our home hospital from UNC today. However, it was a stormy day so I asked that they keep him here until the storms are completely gone and they agreed. He had a pretty rough afternoon. He had a few episodes (drop in heart rate) while we were visiting and we were having to shake him every few seconds to get him to start breathing again. The doctors said that he needed a blood transfusion to get his blood count back up. They went ahead and put him back on the ventalator so that he can get some rest tonight but said that he won't be back on the vent for long. We should be going back to Fayetteville monday or tuesday so please pray for a pleasant ride back to Cape Fear Valley Hospital!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

10 April 2008

Zachary had a very big day. This morning at 7:30 the doctors came and wheeled him to the operating room to place his reservoir. The surgery went wonderful with no complications. It was very difficult for the both of us to see him after the procedure because he just looks so much different then before but we know it is for the best. On top of all the good news from today they informed us that because he is breathing so well with the ventilator he will be taken off some time tomorrow and put on a nasal cannula which will provide no ventilatory support, just supplemental oxygen. This is another huge milestone for Zachary and for us. Also... Zachary now weighs 1 Lb 14.4 oz!!!! Our little baby is growing so fast!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

April 9, 2008


Hey Everyone! They transferred Zachary up here to UNC Chapel Hill to have a reservoir put in his head to relieve the swelling in his brain. Jenna got to kangaroo him for the first time today for about an hour and that was so incredible! It is definitely what the both of them needed! We got some great pictures too!! His surgery will take place tomorrow, Thursday morning, at 07:30 eastern time. Please feel free to send a prayer his way either tonight or tomorrow morning. He is in the hands of some great surgeons up here and we know he will have a speedy recovery. We are staying at the Chapel Hill Ronald McDonald house and that is a God send. who knows how long we will be up here and a hotel would just kill us over time. But Everything is good, Zachary is Healthy, Jenna got a nice long massage today, and well I am just being me. Life is good. We want to thank everyone for your continued love and encouragement.

Monday, April 7, 2008

April 7, 2008


The past couple of days have been pretty good. Zachary is still showing signs of how tired he is from doing all of that breathing with the cpap. Today he weighs 798 grams. The doctors have been waiting for him to be 800 grams so that they can transfer him to Chapel Hill to get the reservoir placed. He will be moved either today or tomorrow. Please keep him in your prayers as they get ready to transfer him. Pray that God places his hands in the gloves with the doctors who will be working on his little body. Thanks for all of your loyalty and prayers! We will keep you updated!

Saturday, April 5, 2008

April 5, 2008


Well these past few days have been exciting ones! Yesterday afternoon they took Zachary off the ventilator again to try him on Cpap (tubes down his nose to help him breathe). This is the second time that they have tried him on this and the first time he lasted about 3 hours. Yesterday he was off the vent for 14 hours!! Breathing with the cpap is really tough on his little body because he has to do all the work. We are so proud of him for making it that long! When we went up there during the night shift, the RT was cleaning the equiptment and Zachary had nothing to help him breathe... he was breathing competely on his own for about 5 minutes!!! PRAISE GOD! He also weighed 724 grams last night (1 pound 10.5 ounces) and once he gets to 800 grams he is going to be sent to UNC to get his reservoir put in his head to help with the draining of the fluid. We appreciate each and every one of you who take your time to check on him and pray for him daily. God is still working his hands on our miracle and we are so thankful!