Scariest hospital visit

Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious intestinal disease that usually affects babies born before 32 weeks of gestation. According to KidsHealth.org, NEC is typically caused by an underdeveloped intestine, or too little oxygen or blood flow to the intestine at birth (usually the result of a difficult delivery). NEC happens when death or injury occurs in the small or large intestine. This inflames the intestine, and may cause a hole in rare cases. This allows waste to pass through the intestine and enter the baby’s bloodstream, which makes the baby very sick and brings infection.

NEC brought on one of the most scary visits in Jharid’s hospital career.

In one of her blog posts, she writes “I went to the store and my cell phone rang – and my heart stopped. It was the hospital telling me to come quickly, something was wrong with my son. I ran out of the store, hopped into a cab and flew into Jersey City Medical Center. His dad was already there waiting,” she said. “Jharid’s belly had turned bluish-gray, and he was having even more difficulty breathing. My greatest fear was coming true. I remember thinking; ‘he is going to die right before our eyes.’ He looked so pathetic, so weak and so sick.”

The worst part was that the doctors didn’t know what was wrong with him.

Jharid had to change hospitals, and was taken to the St. Josephs hospital in New York. At his new hospital, he started the recovery process. He had to eat from an IV for two months, as his stomach was healing. He also wasn’t allowed to be picked up, and had to sit in an incubator with bandages on his stomach.

Occurrences like this happened throughout all five months of Jharid being in the NICU.

Due to the health problems Jharid suffered in the NICU, he developed cerebral palsy. The grade three brain bleeds that he had due to his prematurity is what caused the disorder.

“In the NICU, the doctors said that those brain bleeds could dramatically impact his way of life,” Berryman said.

Even though Jharid has cerebral palsy, Berryman doesn’t allow this to limit Jharid and his capabilities. In a blog post, she explains that “those two words have no power in my home. We don’t accept labels that sound horrible but truthfully describe a wide range of complications, and honestly we don’t use labels that don’t feel right for our son.”