Benefit Fund -Austen Anderson

Nik and Tricia found out they were having twins at their first ultrasound around 7 weeks. Tricia was shocked, Nik was thrilled; they were both freaking out! They found out that “Baby B” (Austen) was measuring about a week behind and excitement quickly turned into anxiety. There were frequent appointments throughout the first trimester for ultrasounds to watch both of the babies, but especially Austen. They made it through the first trimester; Austen was consistently smaller but she kept growing. She was a fighter early on!

Several weeks later, the day for the anatomy scan finally came; Nik and Tricia were both SO excited to see Brody and Austen again. At the scan, everything was great, the ultrasound tech was talking about the babies, they got to see Brody and Austen kicking around; Austen was still smaller but she always had been so they weren’t overly concerned.

Then the doctor came in. He took over the ultrasound machine and finally said that Brody, twin A, looked great. He was perfect. “But we’ve got some stuff going on with Baby B.” Right then, their world came crashing down. “Baby B has a cleft lip/palate.” The NICU nurse in Tricia immediately thought “oh, ok. No big deal, we can fix that. It sucks, but it’s manageable.”

But then he continued talking... “the baby also has a multicystic kidney, it’s not functioning.” “There is a two vessel cord, there’s only one artery in the umbilical cord and there should be two.” “Baby B is significantly smaller than Baby A.”

The doctor talked about if she just stopped growing. About the likelihood of losing her. 
 


Somehow they went from being on top of the world to feeling like their entire world fell apart in less than five minutes. Over the next few days, there were a lot of tears and even more prayers and questions asking God why, begging for a miracle. A lot of begging.





Over the following 15 weeks, they held their breath. Every ultrasound they anticipated, and expected, to be told the worst. Every time, both babies were still hanging in there. Tricia made it to 33 weeks and 4 days before having to deliver due to Pre-Eclampsia. The babies were born on 10/12/18, Brody weighed 5 lbs. 3 oz. and Austen was 2 lbs 8 oz.





Brody needed some help breathing for a while and learning how to eat and was in the NICU at Seton for 16 days prior to coming home. Austen spent about 5 weeks in Seton’s NICU and then transferred to the NICU at Dell Children’s Hospital so she could be seen and followed by several different specialists. 





After Austen was born, Nik and Tricia learned that she was blind in her left eye, her left eyelid doesn’t open, and additionally, has moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears. Nik and Tricia hope to be able to get her into hearing aids soon so that she will start hearing better. It was also confirmed that, like the ultrasound showed, Austen only has one functioning kidney. They will be following up with ultrasounds every 6 months to keep an eye on it and the hope is that it will begin to get smaller; if it doesn’t, Austen would need surgery to remove it. 





While at Dell Children’s, Austen had two surgeries. One was to check her airway and they found that she had an obstruction making it difficult for her to breath so she had some cartilage removed. The second one was to give Austen a permanent (for now) feeding tube. She hadn’t been able to take milk by mouth without choking and having difficulty swallowing; when she wasn’t making progress with eating, Nik, Tricia, and her medical team decided that a G-Tube was the best choice for her. 





After 78 long, grueling days in the NICU, Austen finally came home on December 30, 2018. She is already running the show at home and trying to boss her brothers around. Additionally, she spends her days going to her numerous doctor’s appointments, doing home physical and feeding therapy (each twice a week), and getting ready for her next surgery to repair her cleft lip and to try to open up her left eye. She will have another surgery for her cleft palate when she is around one year old, and various others along the way as she gets older. 


 

 Nik and Tricia don’t know what the future holds for Austen but she is such a tough girl already, and definitely a fighter. They are so grateful for your support and ask for your prayers. Prayers for Austen’s breathing, for sight, for her to be able to take bottles, that she’s able to hear some, and long term prayers for her development and health. They ask for prayers for patience, strength, balance, and not necessarily understanding, but for acceptance.



Please join the Cedar Park Police Association and the Cedar Park Police Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association (a 501c3 non-profit organization) in supporting the Anderson family.