When Nyla was born at 35 weeks, Paige and Marshall knew there might be some early hurdles—but they never imagined how complex her journey would become.

In just her first few weeks of life, Nyla has already faced multiple hospitalizations, urgent evaluations, and ongoing care from a wide range of specialists, including cardiology, pulmonology, ENT, genetics, and critical care. Much of her life so far has been spent in the hospital, with repeated admissions and sudden emergencies whenever her breathing or feeding becomes unstable.

She has experienced a serious respiratory crisis that required emergency intervention and admission to the PICU for close monitoring and stabilization. After several days, she was strong enough to go home—but only briefly. Within days, Nyla suffered another severe episode of breathing distress and had to be airlifted back to the hospital for advanced care.

Nyla is also struggling with significant feeding challenges. She currently relies on an NG tube and is facing failure to thrive, as she cannot safely take in enough nutrition on her own. Feeding and breathing are closely connected for her, and even small amounts can worsen her respiratory distress. She continues to experience rapid breathing, noisy airways, and frequent episodes of increased effort to breathe—many of which have led to emergency visits and readmissions.

Advanced airway testing has revealed that Nyla has multiple levels of airway obstruction affecting nearly her entire breathing system. These findings include:

The base of her tongue falling backward and blocking her airway

Collapse of the upper throat during breathing

A floppy structure above her vocal cords that can obstruct airflow, worsened by her small jaw

Narrowing below the vocal cords

Severe weakness in her windpipe and main airways, causing them to collapse, especially during coughing or exertion

Areas where nearby blood vessels may be compressing her airway

Widespread airway inflammation and excess secretions, raising concern for chronic irritation or aspiration

Nasal swelling and blockage, adding to her breathing difficulties

Despite the overwhelming nature of these challenges, Nyla’s medical team is working closely together to understand how her airway, breathing, and feeding issues are connected. Genetic specialists are also searching for an underlying cause that may help explain her condition.

She is currently undergoing both surgical and medical treatments to help open her airway, with additional studies planned—such as swallow and sleep evaluations—once she has recovered from these procedures.

For her family, this journey has been incredibly difficult. They are navigating long hospital stays, constant uncertainty, and the emotional toll of watching their baby fight every day just to breathe and eat. On top of that, the financial burden from repeated hospitalizations, procedures, travel, and time away from work has quickly become overwhelming.

We are asking for support to help ease some of this burden—covering medical expenses, travel costs, lost income, and the ongoing specialized care Nyla will need as her team continues working toward answers and stability.

If you’re unable to give, sharing Nyla’s story and keeping her in your thoughts and prayers means more than words can say.

Thank you for standing with Nyla and her family during these incredibly difficult early days.