levi's story -- part 1

4 years ago this friday, levi david was born in lismore, new south wales, australia. he is named after his dad ("matthew" is greek, "levi" is the same name in hebrew) and his uncle matt, who left this earth at the age of 16 after a very brave battle with cancer. we also had david of the OT in mind when we named him, a worshipper and a man after God's own heart (1 Sam. 13:14).

everything about my pregnancy with levi and his birth seemed normal. we were paying out of pocket for our hospital stay, so within 24 hours after he was born we were packing up to go home. we just had to wait for the pediatrician to come and check him over before we left. but as i was standing in the room watching his examination, with our car packed and waiting in the parking lot, i noticed that my baby did not look right. i commented to the doc, who then realized that levi had gone limp and had stopped breathing for a few moments. so much for the packed car -- we weren't going anywhere yet.

he proceeded to have at least one more similar episode not too long after that. assuring us that these brief, yet terrifying, spells were most likely due to some leftover mucous in his throat from birth, the doctors wanted to keep him in the children's ICU until the next day to monitor him. they hooked our 1-day-old up to oxygen tubes and a heart rate monitor, and we watched and waited anxiously through the night as his numbers would go up and down.

thankfully, my parents had flown over from the states a few days earlier in order to be there for levi's arrival, so they were able to stay at our flat with miriam throughout our time in the hospital. levi was released from the ICU the next day, and the doctor's initial evaluation of the situation seemed to be suffice...

until a week later, when i was handing levi over to my mom at one point, and again he did not look right. he was having another apnea episode -- limp, discolored body, not breathing, followed moments later by a gasp for air, and then falling fast asleep. we called the ambulance, and landed right back in lismore hospital. only this time, levi's episodes where much more frequent, and the nurses and doctors there were at a loss as to what to do with him. at one point, the doc told us he may be having epileptic seisures, and considered medicating him for that (which i am so glad we did not agree to).

finally, they decided that we should be transferred to a bigger hospital in brisbane, about 3 hours north. levi and i would go by helicopter, and matt would follow by car with miriam and my parents... (to be continued)