Alexander died on Friday, August 11th almost eleven days to the minute after his birth. The yeast infection the doctors thought they had under control suddenly caused him to swell overnight on Wednesday. By Friday morning he was 22 centimeters around in his abdomen. The yeast turned out to be an unusual variety they don’t normally see in the ICN and there apparently aren’t any effective treatments for it. Alex’s little heart couldn’t take the strain and eventually gave out. When he was still alive, but could no longer sustain a pulse they disconnected him from the equipment and put him in Jennifer’s arms. Jennifer had said that she could tell that all Alex wanted was to be picked up and held. So, for his entire life all he wanted was for someone to hold him, and his mother gave him that gift at the very end. When she told him how much she loved him, he opened his eyes for the last time; the very first and very last things Alex ever saw with his eyes in his short life was his Mommy. Then he closed his eyes and looked just like he’d drifted off to sleep.
Jennifer and I are overwhelmed with his loss. It’s far worse than losing Christopher because we had more time with Alex and got to know him. It’s also hard to think that we lost him to something so stupid as a yeast infection. But, we have to stay strong for his sister. Emily continues to fight for her life, and has been improving very gradually but still needs a great deal of respiratory support. She has lost circulation to the toes on her right foot and may lose some of them. The doctors are also concerned about long-term brain damage from the lack of oxygen she endured for almost 24 hours on Thursday.
I’ve attached a picture of Jennifer holding Alex just after he passed away. I’ve also added a photo Jennifer took of Emily opening her eyes taken just yesterday.
Tony