Henry Douglas Schneider

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Henry Douglas Schneider made an early entrance into the hearts and lives of his mommy and daddy, Stephen and JaNae Schneider, on March 7, 2022 at a gestational age of 29 weeks and 5 days.

Three days prior to Henry’s birth, JaNae, at a routine prenatal visit, was diagnosed with preeclampsia.  After blood work confirmed the seriousness of her preeclampsia, she was admitted to Hartford Hospital and was told she would remain there until Henry was born. Three days later when a series of events escalated the risk to both JaNae and Henry, an emergency c-section was performed.

Henry was born small but feisty at 2lbs 7oz and 14 ¾ “ long. Miraculously his lungs were strong enough to breathe on their own from birth with only a CPAP to assist and provide a low dose of oxygen. The 1st week of his life was rather uneventful, as the medical team cared for him and his mommy and daddy fell in love with their precious bundle, and navigated the new routine of the journey with a preemie in the NICU. 

On 3/16/22 after noticing a decrease in Henry’s energy, the inability to tolerate feeds, doing xrays of his abdomen, and bloodwork, Henry was diagnosed with NEC (Necrotizing Enterocolitis). This is a serious gastrointestinal problem that inflames the intestinal tissue that causes intestinal tissue to die.

Next began the “waiting game” and the emotional rollercoaster to see how Henry’s little body reacted to the medications that would hopefully eradicate this infection from his tiny body. Over the course of 2.5 weeks, Henry was given 4 different antibiotics. Each time “some” improvement was made, and then he would plateau and not continue to get better. Henry continued to be stable,his scans seemed clear,  he was growing, his vitals were good, his breathing, for the most part remained steady, his heart was strong, but he was not improving to where the doctors were confident that he was “kicking this infection”. 

On Wednesday 3/30/22 after yet another abdominal scan, it was noted that Henry had developed some twists in his intestines and that surgery was needed. Surgery shed light on why Henry was not “really getting better” Surgeons removed 17 cm of Henry’s little intestines that had died due to his NEC infection. His spunky character helped him tolerate this surgery well. The surgeons left the incision open, with the hopes of allowing a 7 cm section of his intestines, which was “questionable” to heal. Another surgery will be performed again today, 4/1/2022 to determine what the next step in Henry’s journey will be.

Stephen and JaNae so appreciate all of the love, texts, notes, meals, and most importantly the prayers as they continue to navigate the many unknowns that lie ahead. Please continue to pray for them and their family circles, to trust, believe and know that God is in the midst of this all. Please pray for the medical staff that they might be given wisdom and knowledge to care for   and make decisions for our precious Henry Douglas.  We know God is our Almighty Physician.

“He holds the key to all unknown, and I am glad…the dimness of my sight makes me secure; for groping in my misty way, I feel His hand; I hear Him say, My help is sure…For what I cannot, He can see, and in His care I saved shall be, Forever blest.” (Lyrics from He Holds the Key)