Harris, Zachary Keith

[left:b15d2e48df]http://www.cherubs-cdh.org/Album/new/harris2.jpg[/left:b15d2e48df]At 32 weeks gestation I was rather ill with a virus. I was put on antibiotics but after that my pregnancy was taking a difficult turn. By 35 weeks they were concerned with low fetal growth and at 37 weeks I was induced. After a quick labour little Zachary (5lbs 5oz) was born. He was having difficulty breathing, so he was given oxygen and placed in an incubator and taken to SCBU. Early next morning we were told that our son had CDH. To be honest, we had never heard of it before. It was quite a shock as we had not expected this. We were very briefly told what CDH was and that Zachary was to be transferred to Starship Childrens Hospital about 5 miles away. The following morning he had an operation and they found left lobe of liver, spleen, stomach, most of small bowel and tranverse colon in his chest. A 'patch' was used on his diaphragm. Months later we were told that this was a rather large artificial patch. He also had a left plural infusion. He was in NICU for 10 days, and hospital for 3 weeks. We were told that he was a miracle baby. Finally he was taking breastmilk and when we went home he was being fully breastfed. He was a very unsettled baby and he seemed to never sleep. He put weight on very slowly and when he started on solids he started to get constipated. He is now on daily laxatives but we are looking at allergies at present. He is classed as a low tone baby and is a very fast bottom shuffler. Its been very exciting as he is just starting to pull himself up to a standing position on furniture. Zachary is a wonderful miracle. He is a blessing to our family and I thank God for beautiful son. He isnow 16 months old.


Written by Zachary's parents, Chris and Lisa Harris (New Zealand)
1999