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From mommy's heart...
Today was an emotional day; One that brought me closer to the first days of my son Christian Giannopoulos’ birth, who
was delicately born on January 19, 2007. I’ve been following the tragic story of Jessie Davis and her unborn daughter
Chloe who have remained missing over ten days. Today her body was discovered 20 miles from where she was last
seen. This put horrible chills over me and upon reading about her story, I stumbled across another story of Baby Kaleb,
who on May 9th was a horrible and violent victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome by a babysitter. At 6 ½ months, he now lies
in the PICU, hopelessly fighting for his innocent life. These two stories remain in my prayers for the loved ones. It has
also brought so many emotions to me that bring me back to the first days of Christian’s birth, and how I am once again
reminded of how grateful I am to have my son home safe with me.
Christian is considered a miracle baby and now is doing wonderfully with the help of so many doctors, nurses, family
members and friends; as the hopes for him making it out okay from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit were slim to none,
according to the Doctor’s and nurse’s. Baby Christian was born in the early mornings of 4:24am with the help of a well
respected and very experienced midwife in our community who I felt very comfortable with. I didn’t feel too comfortable
in having my son at a hospital due to all the stories I had heard of…malpractices--doctors rushing a calm and natural
birth, and nurses making it an unpleasant experience. I was practicing hypno-birthing at the time and I premeditated
daily that I would have the absolute perfect birth. My son had been breech since the first ultra-sound exams and
Doctors mentioned that this was normal which fetuses will sometimes turn within days of birth. I tried every therapy,
including pre-natal Chiropractic Care, and wives tale in turning him but he simply did not want to turn. He decided to
turn at 36 weeks gestation, but then decided to quickly move back in his most comfortable position—head up.
Before my decision in considering a home birth, I had a certified nurse-midwife who became aware of my breech
presentation and later transferred me to her surgery Doctor. I was immediately rushed into making an appointment to
have Christian via C-section on January 12. So many emotions followed making this appointment and I started to
research the possibilities of still considering my natural birth that I had been practicing for most of my pregnancy. My
decision of having surgery kept haunting me by all the horrible malpractices I had heard about—“baby is pulled out a
certain way that can cause Erb’s Palsy”, “baby is cut sometimes resulting in plastic surgery”, “baby is suppressed from
breathing due to water being left in the lungs”, “after surgery baby is kept from Mother”…very minute worries as to what
I was about to face.
My decisions quickly had me researching online and reading about many normal, lovely, easy breech presentation
births that have occurred with beautiful photos surfing all over the internet, so I followed my gut and directed my
descions in hiring a home lay midwife so I could have an absolute natural and beautiful home birth. I then met with her
and was properly examined. She highly supported me on my decision and I was told that my pelvis was large enough
for a breech presentation. My gut soon left major anxiety levels which I know Christian wasn’t too happy with.
We welcomed baby Christian after 18 hours of labor and about 3 ½ hours of pushing for his arrival. After his arrival I
immediately sensed something was wrong when the tone of my midwife changed telling me to push, “as we need him
out now!” Christian was quickly propped up on my belly, completely lethargic, with no sign of life, no breathing in
sight…I thought I was going to die, but my hopes never ended—as he kept a heart rate up of 160 and it only dropped
to 80 and kept regulating each time my husband and I would tell him to “please not give up.” Our Doula immediately
called the Fire department who arrived about 5-9 minutes after birth and Christian was successfully resuscitated. He
was rushed into the hospital where he stayed in the delivery and care unit for two days, crying and not eating. He slept
for a total of 3 hours in a 48 hour period with the help of an MRI sedation medicine, and once that wore off, he was
back up crying non-stop. Nurses and Doctors had no idea what was wrong, as all his testing came back normal with a
slight amount of swelling in the brain, but not significant enough to state it as a probable cause. I was worried, sick,
devastated, but prayed this would all end and he would be home in no time.
The second day of birth I got a call from his pediatrician, feeling ecstatic that he would give me the good news in
allowing the release of my son. But instead I was informed to rush to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where I needed
to sign release forms as Christian was pronounced in a “severe life threatening state.” He was completely lethargic, with
103 temperatures, and his respiration was hitting over 100. He underwent a spinal tap, MRI & Cat scan, IV fluid
injections…about 5 tubes entering his belly button. He was being poked from every angle with not a flinch in his bone. I
was in fear of loosing my son and the guilt shed over me as the Doctors and Nurses stated numerous times “how could
I possibly torture an innocent baby and put him through the trauma and stress of presenting him breech without the
care of a hospital.” But what was stress and birth trauma? This was my first pregnancy and I had never read upon that
during my endless hours of research…Everything I was told and believed was only beautiful, natural, and pleasant.
I soon contacted Dr. Shadia Koury, my chiropractor who assisted in changing Christian’s position to head down. Her
Webster Technique did in fact work, and he turned for a week. But soon after I felt the pressuring of his bones move
right back into his most comfortable position, head up. I felt an extreme need in contacting Shadia as I felt that she had
genuine answers to what might have gone wrong with Christian…and all I was asking was “help, please, what’s going
on, what have I done?”
I later learned that Christian was severely stressed at birth. His cranial bones were possibly pushed together since his
presentation was backwards (head up position) which was causing some nerve interruption from his brain to his spine.
Nerves were not communicating and this was causing paralysis in the neck and shoulders…and seizures two days after
birth. He was unresponsive with very minimal movements. I asked Shadia to please perform miracles with the years of
practice in working with infants and toddlers. In her first visit with Christian, I saw numerous improvements, like a soft
sucking, a toe wiggle, and a soft head tilt. This was enough for me as the Doctors gave me no hope in my Son ever
coming back and if so, it would be in a “couple of years with the help of lots of therapy. Your son is possibly blind, might
not walk, talk, eat orally, or he might have possible hearing loss!” “Will your son live? Yes! But will he be a vegetable? I
DON’T know!” These were the exact words from one doctor.
He was kept on Phenobarbital for 3 ½ months to minimize or diminish his seizure activity. He has not seized since the
first week of birth. He remains off all medication for two months now and is slowly regaining all strength back. His latest
brain scan has come back normal and he is undergoing Physical Therapy with Beth Ward at Physio Kids to regain
muscle tone that was lost from either brain anoxia (loss of oxygen) or medication. It’s uncertain, but his physical
therapist has high hopes in full recovery.
Christian is now 5 ½ months with a total gain of 17 pounds. He howls, baby talks, sucks his thumb, eats, sleeps through
the night, smiles a 100 times a day, giggles when you play or tickle him, cries with unfamiliar faces and stools normally. I
stress to mention all these little things, as I probably would have taken them for granted if he was never in NICU with
doctors repeatedly telling me that “he would most likely not reach these milestones and only time will tell.”
I am very thankful in all the prayers and support I received in our most devastating moments. All your prayers have
shown nothing but MIRACLES for my precious little one. God Bless.
Dear Shadia,
My Husband and I want to personally thank you for all your up most support in our devastating moments, as we both
felt you brought such positive energy to the hospital. Your beautiful and spiritual aura is felt with your presence and we
feel honored in your dedication in helping us with the recovery of our Son Christian. We feel that our son’s recovery
would not have been as successful with the practice you performed on him for those 3 weeks. We immediately saw
improvements from your first visit to his bed side. Our referrals and support will always remain in your direction.
Warmest,
Naomi Giannopoulos
Today was an emotional day; One that brought me closer to the first days of my son Christian Giannopoulos’ birth, who
was delicately born on January 19, 2007. I’ve been following the tragic story of Jessie Davis and her unborn daughter
Chloe who have remained missing over ten days. Today her body was discovered 20 miles from where she was last
seen. This put horrible chills over me and upon reading about her story, I stumbled across another story of Baby Kaleb,
who on May 9th was a horrible and violent victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome by a babysitter. At 6 ½ months, he now lies
in the PICU, hopelessly fighting for his innocent life. These two stories remain in my prayers for the loved ones. It has
also brought so many emotions to me that bring me back to the first days of Christian’s birth, and how I am once again
reminded of how grateful I am to have my son home safe with me.
Christian is considered a miracle baby and now is doing wonderfully with the help of so many doctors, nurses, family
members and friends; as the hopes for him making it out okay from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit were slim to none,
according to the Doctor’s and nurse’s. Baby Christian was born in the early mornings of 4:24am with the help of a well
respected and very experienced midwife in our community who I felt very comfortable with. I didn’t feel too comfortable
in having my son at a hospital due to all the stories I had heard of…malpractices--doctors rushing a calm and natural
birth, and nurses making it an unpleasant experience. I was practicing hypno-birthing at the time and I premeditated
daily that I would have the absolute perfect birth. My son had been breech since the first ultra-sound exams and
Doctors mentioned that this was normal which fetuses will sometimes turn within days of birth. I tried every therapy,
including pre-natal Chiropractic Care, and wives tale in turning him but he simply did not want to turn. He decided to
turn at 36 weeks gestation, but then decided to quickly move back in his most comfortable position—head up.
Before my decision in considering a home birth, I had a certified nurse-midwife who became aware of my breech
presentation and later transferred me to her surgery Doctor. I was immediately rushed into making an appointment to
have Christian via C-section on January 12. So many emotions followed making this appointment and I started to
research the possibilities of still considering my natural birth that I had been practicing for most of my pregnancy. My
decision of having surgery kept haunting me by all the horrible malpractices I had heard about—“baby is pulled out a
certain way that can cause Erb’s Palsy”, “baby is cut sometimes resulting in plastic surgery”, “baby is suppressed from
breathing due to water being left in the lungs”, “after surgery baby is kept from Mother”…very minute worries as to what
I was about to face.
My decisions quickly had me researching online and reading about many normal, lovely, easy breech presentation
births that have occurred with beautiful photos surfing all over the internet, so I followed my gut and directed my
descions in hiring a home lay midwife so I could have an absolute natural and beautiful home birth. I then met with her
and was properly examined. She highly supported me on my decision and I was told that my pelvis was large enough
for a breech presentation. My gut soon left major anxiety levels which I know Christian wasn’t too happy with.
We welcomed baby Christian after 18 hours of labor and about 3 ½ hours of pushing for his arrival. After his arrival I
immediately sensed something was wrong when the tone of my midwife changed telling me to push, “as we need him
out now!” Christian was quickly propped up on my belly, completely lethargic, with no sign of life, no breathing in
sight…I thought I was going to die, but my hopes never ended—as he kept a heart rate up of 160 and it only dropped
to 80 and kept regulating each time my husband and I would tell him to “please not give up.” Our Doula immediately
called the Fire department who arrived about 5-9 minutes after birth and Christian was successfully resuscitated. He
was rushed into the hospital where he stayed in the delivery and care unit for two days, crying and not eating. He slept
for a total of 3 hours in a 48 hour period with the help of an MRI sedation medicine, and once that wore off, he was
back up crying non-stop. Nurses and Doctors had no idea what was wrong, as all his testing came back normal with a
slight amount of swelling in the brain, but not significant enough to state it as a probable cause. I was worried, sick,
devastated, but prayed this would all end and he would be home in no time.
The second day of birth I got a call from his pediatrician, feeling ecstatic that he would give me the good news in
allowing the release of my son. But instead I was informed to rush to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where I needed
to sign release forms as Christian was pronounced in a “severe life threatening state.” He was completely lethargic, with
103 temperatures, and his respiration was hitting over 100. He underwent a spinal tap, MRI & Cat scan, IV fluid
injections…about 5 tubes entering his belly button. He was being poked from every angle with not a flinch in his bone. I
was in fear of loosing my son and the guilt shed over me as the Doctors and Nurses stated numerous times “how could
I possibly torture an innocent baby and put him through the trauma and stress of presenting him breech without the
care of a hospital.” But what was stress and birth trauma? This was my first pregnancy and I had never read upon that
during my endless hours of research…Everything I was told and believed was only beautiful, natural, and pleasant.
I soon contacted Dr. Shadia Koury, my chiropractor who assisted in changing Christian’s position to head down. Her
Webster Technique did in fact work, and he turned for a week. But soon after I felt the pressuring of his bones move
right back into his most comfortable position, head up. I felt an extreme need in contacting Shadia as I felt that she had
genuine answers to what might have gone wrong with Christian…and all I was asking was “help, please, what’s going
on, what have I done?”
I later learned that Christian was severely stressed at birth. His cranial bones were possibly pushed together since his
presentation was backwards (head up position) which was causing some nerve interruption from his brain to his spine.
Nerves were not communicating and this was causing paralysis in the neck and shoulders…and seizures two days after
birth. He was unresponsive with very minimal movements. I asked Shadia to please perform miracles with the years of
practice in working with infants and toddlers. In her first visit with Christian, I saw numerous improvements, like a soft
sucking, a toe wiggle, and a soft head tilt. This was enough for me as the Doctors gave me no hope in my Son ever
coming back and if so, it would be in a “couple of years with the help of lots of therapy. Your son is possibly blind, might
not walk, talk, eat orally, or he might have possible hearing loss!” “Will your son live? Yes! But will he be a vegetable? I
DON’T know!” These were the exact words from one doctor.
He was kept on Phenobarbital for 3 ½ months to minimize or diminish his seizure activity. He has not seized since the
first week of birth. He remains off all medication for two months now and is slowly regaining all strength back. His latest
brain scan has come back normal and he is undergoing Physical Therapy with Beth Ward at Physio Kids to regain
muscle tone that was lost from either brain anoxia (loss of oxygen) or medication. It’s uncertain, but his physical
therapist has high hopes in full recovery.
Christian is now 5 ½ months with a total gain of 17 pounds. He howls, baby talks, sucks his thumb, eats, sleeps through
the night, smiles a 100 times a day, giggles when you play or tickle him, cries with unfamiliar faces and stools normally. I
stress to mention all these little things, as I probably would have taken them for granted if he was never in NICU with
doctors repeatedly telling me that “he would most likely not reach these milestones and only time will tell.”
I am very thankful in all the prayers and support I received in our most devastating moments. All your prayers have
shown nothing but MIRACLES for my precious little one. God Bless.
Dear Shadia,
My Husband and I want to personally thank you for all your up most support in our devastating moments, as we both
felt you brought such positive energy to the hospital. Your beautiful and spiritual aura is felt with your presence and we
feel honored in your dedication in helping us with the recovery of our Son Christian. We feel that our son’s recovery
would not have been as successful with the practice you performed on him for those 3 weeks. We immediately saw
improvements from your first visit to his bed side. Our referrals and support will always remain in your direction.
Warmest,
Naomi Giannopoulos
From Dr. Koury's heart...
As both a mother and Chiropractor, I find so much joy in caring for other future mom's and their babies. Sharing
pregnancy with others is such a blessing and I get to experience all the emotions of my 2 joyous births all over again.
When Naomi entered my office at 35 weeks of gestation, I instantly knew she was going to be an amazing mother. Her
heart and smile would fill the room and other patients would engage her just to take that energy home with them. She
was so concerned that Christian was in a breech position and she had to make some very tough decisions. Regardless
of his position, Naomi was confident in delivering Christian naturally at home along with a very experienced midwife.
On Friday January 19th, 2007, five minutes after closing and getting ready for the weekend ahead, I got the call....
the one that would change me forever. It was Naomi informing me of Christian's birth. As I began to get excited, she
proceeded to tell me there were some complications and Christian had to be resuscitated and rushed to the
emergency room. Her question was, "Shadia, can you help us?" Without a thought of hesitation, I rushed over to the
hospital, praying the whole way. Due to security reasons, the hospital staff did not let me see Christian without the
presence of his parents. I left disappointed and devastated.
On Sunday January 21st, Naomi called me frantic because Christian was now in the NICU. I told her I would be right
over. All of my years of training did not prepare me for what I was about to experience. A beautiful, soulful, and
helpless newborn with tubes all around him and in him. His doctor's were very concerned because he had a high fever,
a fast heart rate and respiration rate, and he was fighting an infection. I could feel Naomi's devastation and gave her
as much strength, support and reassurance as I could. Intuitively, I began working on his cranial bones and respiratory
diaphragms. I watched the monitors as I worked on him and could see his heart rate and respiration rate come back to
normal levels. That was the first of the amazing miracles I was about to witness.
Due to the over stimulation and stress of his situation, Christian began to have seizures. He was immediately given
drugs to suppress them. I continued to work on Christian every other day for almost 3 weeks. He would not be released
until he could feed on his own. I would work on his suction and low and behold, he started sucking on a bottle in that
3rd week. Working on him only improved his movements and reflexes. At 5 weeks of age, Christian was finally released
to go home. His EEG's and MRI's continue to come back normal. His only challenge is some motor skills that will
improve with therapy.
Witnessing Christian open his eyes, look for his mama, and then giving her a smile was a moment that will never leave
my memory. Christian has touched my life as no other baby has. As I would work on him, he actually worked on me and
gave me more confidence and faith in what I do on a daily basis. He has proven that a newborn has more intelligence
and inspiration than most adults. He has truly validated the amazing power of love and Chiropractic. Sincere gratitude
to his loving parents who trusted me completely with their precious child. The Giannopoulos Family will forever be in my
heart and prayers!
As both a mother and Chiropractor, I find so much joy in caring for other future mom's and their babies. Sharing
pregnancy with others is such a blessing and I get to experience all the emotions of my 2 joyous births all over again.
When Naomi entered my office at 35 weeks of gestation, I instantly knew she was going to be an amazing mother. Her
heart and smile would fill the room and other patients would engage her just to take that energy home with them. She
was so concerned that Christian was in a breech position and she had to make some very tough decisions. Regardless
of his position, Naomi was confident in delivering Christian naturally at home along with a very experienced midwife.
On Friday January 19th, 2007, five minutes after closing and getting ready for the weekend ahead, I got the call....
the one that would change me forever. It was Naomi informing me of Christian's birth. As I began to get excited, she
proceeded to tell me there were some complications and Christian had to be resuscitated and rushed to the
emergency room. Her question was, "Shadia, can you help us?" Without a thought of hesitation, I rushed over to the
hospital, praying the whole way. Due to security reasons, the hospital staff did not let me see Christian without the
presence of his parents. I left disappointed and devastated.
On Sunday January 21st, Naomi called me frantic because Christian was now in the NICU. I told her I would be right
over. All of my years of training did not prepare me for what I was about to experience. A beautiful, soulful, and
helpless newborn with tubes all around him and in him. His doctor's were very concerned because he had a high fever,
a fast heart rate and respiration rate, and he was fighting an infection. I could feel Naomi's devastation and gave her
as much strength, support and reassurance as I could. Intuitively, I began working on his cranial bones and respiratory
diaphragms. I watched the monitors as I worked on him and could see his heart rate and respiration rate come back to
normal levels. That was the first of the amazing miracles I was about to witness.
Due to the over stimulation and stress of his situation, Christian began to have seizures. He was immediately given
drugs to suppress them. I continued to work on Christian every other day for almost 3 weeks. He would not be released
until he could feed on his own. I would work on his suction and low and behold, he started sucking on a bottle in that
3rd week. Working on him only improved his movements and reflexes. At 5 weeks of age, Christian was finally released
to go home. His EEG's and MRI's continue to come back normal. His only challenge is some motor skills that will
improve with therapy.
Witnessing Christian open his eyes, look for his mama, and then giving her a smile was a moment that will never leave
my memory. Christian has touched my life as no other baby has. As I would work on him, he actually worked on me and
gave me more confidence and faith in what I do on a daily basis. He has proven that a newborn has more intelligence
and inspiration than most adults. He has truly validated the amazing power of love and Chiropractic. Sincere gratitude
to his loving parents who trusted me completely with their precious child. The Giannopoulos Family will forever be in my
heart and prayers!
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