Our son was born (scheduled c section b/c he was measuring so big) and seemed perfectly fine but we noticed him stretching his neck back as if he were looking back for something. The doctors didn't think it was anything until he turned blue . They determined that he was having seizures so they had to keep him for further testing. After an MRI and some additional tests they determined he had a large stroke on the left side of his brain roughly 7-10 days before he was born. It was the last thing I expected to hear and the hardest. He had to stay in the NICU for a few more days so they could see if the dosage of the seizure medication (fenalbarb) was appropriate. They told us we won't really know how the stroke will affect him until he starts to hit developmental milestones. Essentially, it's a waiting game. We started him in occupational therapy at 3 months and he's thriving to say the least! His right arm is delayed but has showed enormous improvement w/ the early intervention! He's now 7 months and is sitting on his own and is starting to creep so we think crawling is right around the corner. He's right on point developmentally and is the most wonderful baby! It's extremely difficult to think of the challenges your child will endure due to the effects of a stroke but I also believe that early intervention is imperative. I don't know if we would have even known he had a stroke if he didn't have the seizures but in retrospect I'm happy he did b/c we know he may have challenges and we know how to get him the help he needs, should he need it. He's no longer on the fenalbarb and sees a neurologist every 3-4 months. She's extremely optimistic based on the progress he's made so far. Good luck and stay positive!!!
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Many parents whose baby or child has had a stroke can benefit from hearing from other parents who are experiencing the same challenges. There's a group online called Hemi-Kids tht has a discussion group where you can receive and send daily emails to other parents of kids who have had a stroke. They talk about stuff like physical therapy, dealing with the schools and special ed, mild cerebral palsy, helping your child learn to dress, and really anything related to what we're going through. The website is ***edited by moderator*** web addresses not allowed
Hope this helps!
Hope this helps!
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My baby suffered a stroke as well at birth. I have the same questions. They pumped me a total of 3x and never bothered to check to see if my epidural was out. if anyone knows please help us.
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Hello,
I have a 12 weeks old baby girl. A week after her birth we were told she had a stroke and large part of her left brain side was damaged. Doctors told us she will have a weaknees on right side of her body and she might have problems to speak. Now we attend theraphy and try to help her. However it is very difficult as she cries a lot, she moves very rappidly and it is almost impossible to do exercises with her. she streatches all her body, turns her head back and when I try to stop her she cries even worse.
Could you let me know if you had a case like this? I do not know how to help her when she is so nervouse most of the day. Docotor terrified me yesterday when he said it is because the part of the brain responsible for moods was destroied. Now I am affraid she will go on cring and there is nothing I can do...........I feel I lose my baby each day more and more.
I have a 12 weeks old baby girl. A week after her birth we were told she had a stroke and large part of her left brain side was damaged. Doctors told us she will have a weaknees on right side of her body and she might have problems to speak. Now we attend theraphy and try to help her. However it is very difficult as she cries a lot, she moves very rappidly and it is almost impossible to do exercises with her. she streatches all her body, turns her head back and when I try to stop her she cries even worse.
Could you let me know if you had a case like this? I do not know how to help her when she is so nervouse most of the day. Docotor terrified me yesterday when he said it is because the part of the brain responsible for moods was destroied. Now I am affraid she will go on cring and there is nothing I can do...........I feel I lose my baby each day more and more.
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Dear parents,
My son has also suffered a stroke sometimes during delivery two and a half months ago. Well, I don't need to tell you how we felt and what we went through those first couple of weeks in the hospital when they told us that there is a chance that his entire right side of the body won't be functional. He had seizures for couple of days after delivery and weakness in his right hand. He regained strength in his right hand only few days after we got out of the hospital and everything seems to be going great. He's been nursing really well, sleeping well, everybody thinks that he's at least a month older than he is. However, from time to time he'd start using his right hand less than his left. It would last for three to four days and then he'd be using both the same. It's been five days now that he hasn't been using his right hand as much and I am going completely crazy!!! We went to see his neurologist but he keeps telling us that we have to wait and that's it. Not to mention that the entire examination lasted for about 30 seconds, we were in his office for about 5 minutes top. That is just not satisfying for me. I can't believe that there is nothing we can do at this time to help him. We have physical therapist coming as well but she hasn't been very helpful either. She told us that all we can do is put him on tummy time as much as possible. Has anyone experienced anything similar with the hand? Also, do you think I should look for another neurologist and physical therapist?
Any comment would be highly appreciated.
Thank you
My son has also suffered a stroke sometimes during delivery two and a half months ago. Well, I don't need to tell you how we felt and what we went through those first couple of weeks in the hospital when they told us that there is a chance that his entire right side of the body won't be functional. He had seizures for couple of days after delivery and weakness in his right hand. He regained strength in his right hand only few days after we got out of the hospital and everything seems to be going great. He's been nursing really well, sleeping well, everybody thinks that he's at least a month older than he is. However, from time to time he'd start using his right hand less than his left. It would last for three to four days and then he'd be using both the same. It's been five days now that he hasn't been using his right hand as much and I am going completely crazy!!! We went to see his neurologist but he keeps telling us that we have to wait and that's it. Not to mention that the entire examination lasted for about 30 seconds, we were in his office for about 5 minutes top. That is just not satisfying for me. I can't believe that there is nothing we can do at this time to help him. We have physical therapist coming as well but she hasn't been very helpful either. She told us that all we can do is put him on tummy time as much as possible. Has anyone experienced anything similar with the hand? Also, do you think I should look for another neurologist and physical therapist?
Any comment would be highly appreciated.
Thank you
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to kashinka: my baby sister also suffered a stroke in utero. She had the same symptoms you are describing, the constant crying and body flaling. She is now 20 and IS just like every other 20 year old out there and very succsessfull. sorry to say the crying gets better but it does not stop she also did not speak untill she was 5 years old but when she did start talking it was in complete sentences.
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Thank you for reply. I was realy worried. I am glad to say that my baby girl is better now, she cries less and smieles a lot. Seams to be very interesed in everything that is around her. I hope it will be better each day now. She still has worsde moments but I guess that is normal.
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Hi, my name is kayla, I'm 23 years old and I had a stroke at birth.. I'm trying to find out more about it now that I'm in medical school and it seems to be very rare... can anyone help....
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Hi Kayla,
My son suffered a stroke at birth. He seems to be doing great now. I'd love to answer your questions if I can, also I'd have few questions for you if you don't mind.
Thanks
My son suffered a stroke at birth. He seems to be doing great now. I'd love to answer your questions if I can, also I'd have few questions for you if you don't mind.
Thanks
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Kayla, wow that is awesome that you are in medical school, I would like to ask you a few questions too. My daughter had one stroke in utereo and one after birth.
dijana15, How is your son doing? My daughters left arm is weaker than left. She does PT and OT, but I havent found her left hand is getting stronger.
dijana15, How is your son doing? My daughters left arm is weaker than left. She does PT and OT, but I havent found her left hand is getting stronger.
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Hi kmee,
My son is doing pretty well but I do notice that his right arm is a bit weaker then left, not when he's on his back though but on the tummy. He reaches, grabs and bang toys with the left hand whereas he has problem moving his right hand, once again only when he's on his tummy. The frustrating part is we're seeing a neurologist, we just had an appointment with the rehab medicine doctor and we have PT coming on a regular basis, and they all tell us that we shouldn't worry yet, that we have to wait. I would thought that we need to start as early as possible, but then again I'm not a doctor. My son is five and a half months old by the way. And regarding our PT she's really sweet but I wouldn't say very helpful. We are seeing another neurologist next week for the second opinion, and we're starting infant swimming, thought it might help.
Oh BTW one thing that I think really helped us is infant massage. I don't know how old your daughter is. We started at two months.
Kayla, I'd love to hear about your experience and how you're doing right now.
Thanks
My son is doing pretty well but I do notice that his right arm is a bit weaker then left, not when he's on his back though but on the tummy. He reaches, grabs and bang toys with the left hand whereas he has problem moving his right hand, once again only when he's on his tummy. The frustrating part is we're seeing a neurologist, we just had an appointment with the rehab medicine doctor and we have PT coming on a regular basis, and they all tell us that we shouldn't worry yet, that we have to wait. I would thought that we need to start as early as possible, but then again I'm not a doctor. My son is five and a half months old by the way. And regarding our PT she's really sweet but I wouldn't say very helpful. We are seeing another neurologist next week for the second opinion, and we're starting infant swimming, thought it might help.
Oh BTW one thing that I think really helped us is infant massage. I don't know how old your daughter is. We started at two months.
Kayla, I'd love to hear about your experience and how you're doing right now.
Thanks
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Our daughter had a stroke at birth as well. She is now 4 and doing REMARKABLY well! Take heart. The range of outcomes goes from severe problems to nearly normal, which is why many doctors cannot really say what your child will face. It all depends on where the stroke occurred and how much damage occurred. Our daughter's stroke happened in the right side of her brain. She has mild weakness in her left hand and leg, but her gross motor functioning is great. Her fine motor in the left hand is weak but she uses that hand anyway, so the tight-fisting you see as a baby goes away with therapy. We got our daughter into therapy at 3 months of age. She's still in OT and speech therapy and is in preschool, with an IEP, which means she gets more attention from the teachers. I encourage all of you to join the Pediatric Stroke Network to find out what other parents such as yourselves are doing to arm themselves with knowledge and the latest breakthroughs that can help our children function. Google it and join!
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Hi, all - my daughter, almost 2 now, suffered a stroke at (or right before) birth. Left Tenporal/Parietal and Frontal lobes affected. She shows no sign of impairment. She's doing so well that the docs say that what they originally thought was a stroke (brain tissue death) may have been swelling. Definitely a bad brain injury, but she has definitley healed in some way. PLEASE stay hopeful and don't despair. The great news is you love them more and more each minute, so no matter what the challenges are, it gets easier!!!!!
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hi, we have recently found out my baby had a stroke either before birth or during. it has affected his left arm and leg, he holds it in a sling like position and when he tries to use it he just cant get it to do what he wants. we have seen our paediatrition once and are booked in for an MRI at the childrens hossi next month. we were put onto a team of people who are meant to help and ive found they are not helpfull at all. i have organised my own physio because they told me we would have to wait a while for one! my son is nearly one and i realised at about 6 months he would not use his arm at all, he never crawled because his arm and leg just would not do it, he learnt to slide on his bum with his good arm holding him up! my son is now trying to walk but just falls flat on his face and is constantly having bruises or blood nose, lip ect. im a bit scared of this MRI and what they are going to find! its a very scary thing and there are so many questions i need answered, but no one seems to want to answer those questions...i just want to know what i can do for now to help my son till we get the help we were told was coming!!!!!!
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