33/46 of the daily Lenten blog…

Remember the Vampire  (Day 20)?  Well, she did great after almost bleeding to death, and we were able to release her.  But would you believe, we still haven’t been able to discharge her son, we’ll call him Gordito (Little Chubbo—Not his real name).  He’s been here for almost 2 weeks now.

At birth, we believe he aspirated meconium.  ‘Aspirated’ means he sucked something into his lungs.  Meconium is the black tarry poop that baby’s make for a couple days after birth.  If they’ve been in some distress while still in the uterus, they may let some out while still inside.  Then, when the amniotic bag ruptures, a green or darkish color comes out.  This can be a clue that something is amiss.  And as a baby is born, they sometimes inhale it into the lungs where it can on occasion cause inflammation and respiratory problems

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BTW, Meconium is, I think, the stickiest substance known to man.  Once it touches your skin, it requires sandpaper to remove.  It also seems to multiply once you get it on your hands, or say, the sleeve of your shirt (not that I’ve ever struggled with this, or fallen to the ground as if wrestling with a straight-jacket, trying to extract myself from this unrelenting sludge).  It spreads like a grease fire, and there’s just no containing it once the cat’s out of the bag.  So, beware of this treacherous goo.  Ah, meconium, you are a worthy opponent…

The saving grace of meconium is that it is theoretically sterile, and unscented.  It’s not mixed with food, and it hasn’t had a chance to colonize with various normal bacteria of the bowels.  The same bacteria that help contribute to the ‘Poo’ smell of poo.  ‘Mec’ is made up of various materials such as sloughed-off cells from the intestines, mucin (snot), lanugo (hair), amniotic fluid, and fats.  It makes one wonder if we aren’t missing out on a really nutritious cracker spread (I guarantee if I google this now, somebody out there is already doing this…  They’ve made it an appetizer to the main course of freshly delivered, pan-fried Placenta.)

So, I just googled this, and I’m not finding a lot about eating meconium (I shall now submit a patent on this untapped market).  However, there’s more than I ever wanted to know about eating placentas.  There’s a lot of supportive statements, like ‘animals know the benefit of doing this already.’  Or, ‘it’s good for replenishing your energy.’  True, animals do eat their placentas.  But they also eat poop.  And if you’re looking for some quick energy after your delivery, how bout’ a Red Bull?  Or maybe go Marshawn Lynch-style, and pop a few skittles?  Just a thought.

Back to Gordito, eventually, the diagnosis of Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn was added.  After the insult of the meconium aspiration, the blood vessels in his lungs tightened up.  The lungs don’t work as well like this.  At this point, it’s a waiting game.  We anticipate those blood vessels will eventually relax, and consequently exchange oxygen more efficiently.

He continues to require supplemental oxygen, but is gradually improving and we hope that he will go home in the next week.

Photo of the Day:

Coral (dead) from the islands off the North Coast of Honduras…

Lucky 13 more to go…