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THE GREATEST GIFT TO THE SMALLEST RECIPIENT
It was a busy summer for the Moore family of Soldotna. As the due
date for Sonja and Rusty’s third son approached, they kept
busy with a trip to Florida, camping and soccer games.
But then the pain started. Doctors’ released Sonja from the
hospital after a week, unable to pinpoint the problem. But by mid-August
the pain hadn’t subsided and Sonja started counting back the
days without movement. He wasn’t much of a mover to begin
with, not as much as the first two boys.
“I noticed that for about three days I hadn’t felt him
move at all,” said Sonja.
She returned to the hospital where tests indicated there was something
very, very wrong.
Ten weeks from his due date, Carter Moore was bleeding to death
in the womb, his little fists clenched in distress.
Sonja was MedEvaced to Anchorage. Carter was born by emergency C-section,
Aug. 11, 2007, with only 1/4 of the blood needed to sustain his
3-lb, 11-ounce body.
“He had started bleeding through his umbilical cord,”
Sonja said. “He started pushing blood out into my belly, which
is why I’d had all the pain the weeks prior to that.”
Carter suffered from a fetal-maternal hemorrhage, a condition that
left him dependent on blood donation to survive. He received two
units of red blood cells and two units of platelets.
Donors who give for baby transfusions are very special. They must
be O-negative and negative for virus CMV, which many people in the
United States carry. While the virus usually produces either mild
symptoms or no symptoms in adults, it can be deadly to infants.
For two months, Carter stayed in the NICU, fighting for life.
“I held him when he was about 11 days old,” said Sonja
“I was super-excited. It was really hard because we hadn’t
been able to touch him. They didn’t want him to be over-stimulated.”
Carter is now a healthy, happy 6 month old enjoying the love of
his parents and his older brothers Kade and Cooper.
“Without people who donate blood, we wouldn’t have our
son today.”
Sonja and Rusty Moore have decided to show thanks by sponsoring
annual drives in Carter’s honor. The first will be held June
12 at Peninsula Christian Center in Soldotna.
“You don’t know the impact of blood donation until it’s
a must,” Sonja said.
“You just never know who it’s going to. That’s
why it’s so important to donate.”
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