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This fund has been created to help Kelly and Mike with the financial burden of a baby under intensive care. Any donation, large or small, would be greatly appreciated. Please read the story of "Miracle Max" Asa below.
Thank you!
9/23
Around 11:30 last night, Kelly felt like she was having contractions. She first thought maybe they were Braxton Hicks, but they kept coming stronger and stronger so she knew she had to call Mike. Mike left his overnight shift at work, dropped Maddie off at Grandma's house, and took Kelly to the hospital around 2:00 am. The nurses weren't convinced it was labor because it would be very unusual for someone who had already had a full term baby with her first kid to have this happen with her second. When Kelly's doctor arrived, she convinced him to check her because it really felt like the labor pains she had with Maddie. Sure enough, she was already dilated to almost 4. The doctors and nurses rushed her into another room to try to stop to labor by giving her a large dose of magnesium. It didn't work. Kelly's water broke almost immediately, and in less than 10 minutes, Max was here. Luckily an entire team of NICU doctors and nurses made it into the delivery room just as Max was born. He gave a little cry, so they decided to help fight for his life and intubated him right away. They warned us that the statistics for babies this young were really, really bad. The next four days will be critical, and they will run tests to see how Max's lungs, heart, and brain look.
9/25
Max had an Echo on his heart and his brain scan today. Kelly got to hold his hand during both procedures, which was so special to her. Official reports are: there is a very small hole in his heart that didn't close when he was born. This is common and expected, and it is so small that they aren't even going to do another round of medication to try to close it. They will just plan on keeping their eyes on it in case it opens up. Typically babies this young have problems with their hearts because immature lungs put extra pressure on the right side of the heart. Max has NO problems with that! The head scan revealed that there are NO signs of bleeding in the brain, which is the best news ever. He will get a few more of these head scans as he progresses, but for now, he is doing the best he possibly could!
9/27
Doctor Fitzgerald, the NICU doctor who arrived in the delivery room just in the nick of time when Max was born, met with us today. He had told us that first day that the chances of survival were in the "single digits" and that the first 4 days would be critical for Max. Well, it is day 4 and Max is still here, still knocking the socks off of everyone, showing no signs of stopping any time soon! Doctor Fitz told us he was "ecstatic about how fantastic Max is doing" and he literally danced a jig right there next to Max's incubator (which is called the Giraffe). The nurse had to come in and yell at him to quiet down, because he was disturbing the babies! :) We are thrilled to see that the doctors are as excited as we are that Max is doing so awesome. Any time we get good news, it is always paired with the "but things can change quickly and go south" talk. So this was nice to just feel good about things for a minute!
9/29
Max had a really big day today. He was taken off the ventilator and was put on CPAP, which means he is doing most of his breathing on his own, but he has some help with oxygen through his nose only. He also got his umbilical artery lines taken out and a PICC was put in his arm, which can stay in place a lot longer and makes him much easier to move around. Max even pooped -- 3 times!!! -- today, even though the doctors told us not to expect that for another 5 days or so. Our little guy is ahead of every curve ball so far! Because he is doing so well, the doctors and nurses decided to up his feedings to every three hours instead of every six, so he will be getting even more breast milk through his tubes for now. Everyone is so proud of him!
10/1
I got to hold Max! It was a little scary at first, with all of his tubes and wires and with him being so small. He freaked out a little, too, at first, which was even scarier. After just a few minutes though, he got super comfy and started taking nice, deep breaths. His oxygen support through his nose was up to 45%, but after holding him for an hour and a half, he had managed to drop that down to 28%. Room air is 21-23%, so he was really getting minimum support! It felt so good to be together again - both mommy and baby were happy as can be! The nurses say I can hold him once every day as long as he continues to do this well.
Thank you again!!
Thank you!
9/23
Around 11:30 last night, Kelly felt like she was having contractions. She first thought maybe they were Braxton Hicks, but they kept coming stronger and stronger so she knew she had to call Mike. Mike left his overnight shift at work, dropped Maddie off at Grandma's house, and took Kelly to the hospital around 2:00 am. The nurses weren't convinced it was labor because it would be very unusual for someone who had already had a full term baby with her first kid to have this happen with her second. When Kelly's doctor arrived, she convinced him to check her because it really felt like the labor pains she had with Maddie. Sure enough, she was already dilated to almost 4. The doctors and nurses rushed her into another room to try to stop to labor by giving her a large dose of magnesium. It didn't work. Kelly's water broke almost immediately, and in less than 10 minutes, Max was here. Luckily an entire team of NICU doctors and nurses made it into the delivery room just as Max was born. He gave a little cry, so they decided to help fight for his life and intubated him right away. They warned us that the statistics for babies this young were really, really bad. The next four days will be critical, and they will run tests to see how Max's lungs, heart, and brain look.
9/25
Max had an Echo on his heart and his brain scan today. Kelly got to hold his hand during both procedures, which was so special to her. Official reports are: there is a very small hole in his heart that didn't close when he was born. This is common and expected, and it is so small that they aren't even going to do another round of medication to try to close it. They will just plan on keeping their eyes on it in case it opens up. Typically babies this young have problems with their hearts because immature lungs put extra pressure on the right side of the heart. Max has NO problems with that! The head scan revealed that there are NO signs of bleeding in the brain, which is the best news ever. He will get a few more of these head scans as he progresses, but for now, he is doing the best he possibly could!
9/27
Doctor Fitzgerald, the NICU doctor who arrived in the delivery room just in the nick of time when Max was born, met with us today. He had told us that first day that the chances of survival were in the "single digits" and that the first 4 days would be critical for Max. Well, it is day 4 and Max is still here, still knocking the socks off of everyone, showing no signs of stopping any time soon! Doctor Fitz told us he was "ecstatic about how fantastic Max is doing" and he literally danced a jig right there next to Max's incubator (which is called the Giraffe). The nurse had to come in and yell at him to quiet down, because he was disturbing the babies! :) We are thrilled to see that the doctors are as excited as we are that Max is doing so awesome. Any time we get good news, it is always paired with the "but things can change quickly and go south" talk. So this was nice to just feel good about things for a minute!
9/29
Max had a really big day today. He was taken off the ventilator and was put on CPAP, which means he is doing most of his breathing on his own, but he has some help with oxygen through his nose only. He also got his umbilical artery lines taken out and a PICC was put in his arm, which can stay in place a lot longer and makes him much easier to move around. Max even pooped -- 3 times!!! -- today, even though the doctors told us not to expect that for another 5 days or so. Our little guy is ahead of every curve ball so far! Because he is doing so well, the doctors and nurses decided to up his feedings to every three hours instead of every six, so he will be getting even more breast milk through his tubes for now. Everyone is so proud of him!
10/1
I got to hold Max! It was a little scary at first, with all of his tubes and wires and with him being so small. He freaked out a little, too, at first, which was even scarier. After just a few minutes though, he got super comfy and started taking nice, deep breaths. His oxygen support through his nose was up to 45%, but after holding him for an hour and a half, he had managed to drop that down to 28%. Room air is 21-23%, so he was really getting minimum support! It felt so good to be together again - both mommy and baby were happy as can be! The nurses say I can hold him once every day as long as he continues to do this well.
Thank you again!!