We didn’t want to ask for help. However, we’re at the point where there aren’t any other options.

This GoFundMe is to help Brandon Michel and Leigh McKenzie with their daughter’s prolonged NICU stay. They moved into a three bedroom house in May for their growing family while still trying to sell their other house. Around week 25 of pregnancy, Leigh began experiencing right upper stomach pains off and on, swelling, etc. Brandon, Leigh, and Adrielle (their daughter starting kindergarten in August) had been to OB triage twice within that couple weeks. Labs kept checking out okay so it was difficult to justify any intervention. At the end of week 26, Leigh ended up in the hospital in Fargo for monitoring due to severe preeclampsia. After almost a week in the hospital, on June 4th, Leigh was having a hard time breathing, was dealing with severe swelling, and unmanageable blood pressures. After receiving a couple injections over a couple days, several IVs which kept failing due to all of the swelling, and then the severe preeclampsia symptoms, the fetal maternal medical team decided it was time to have the baby. Leigh called Brandon and told him they were having a baby that day and he left for Fargo from work. He got pulled over on the way to Fargo and almost missed the birth, it was all very dramatic. He burst into the room at the last minute and had to get garbed up.

Leigh had some difficulty with bleeding after delivering and, while Autumn was in the NICU, she needed some blood transfusions and extra monitoring due to the preeclampsia.

Autumn Rae Michel was born the morning of 6/4/2025 at 27 was weeks and 2 days weighing 1 lb 8.9 oz. She spent some time in the micropreemie unit for a bit before graduating to the NICU room she is in currently.

There is still no discharge date set since Autumn is still only a little over 3 lbs, requiring oxygen, and needing to receive blood transfusionsat times. She is still receiving her food through an NG tube a majority of the time because of her increased oxygen support. They tried to bottle feed but then her oxygen needs increased again and they can’t when she is receiving so much oxygen. The blood transfusions have been helping her apnea spells off and on. She was seeing wound care due to a wound on her buttocks, and is seeing hematology for a growing vessel on top of her head. Little Autumn will need work with Early intervention, PT, and OT because of learning how to bottle feed, needing range of motions exercises due to some hip, knee, and ankle concerns, and just growth and development due to prematurity.

Leigh has been out of work since she was hospitalized, and her family drives to Fargo nearly daily to bond and be with Autumn. When she is in Fargo, Brandon is basically living a single dad life. Adrielle is struggling with mom being gone so much and little sister not being home yet. Putting on nearly 1400 miles a week to go back and forth to the NICU, Leigh and Brandon and struggling to go back and forth between Jamestown and Fargo until Autumn is able to come home.

Each donation, prayer, and anything in between is appreciated in this time of need. Please help Leigh, Brandon, and Adrielle, as they work with the wonderful Sanford NICU team to bring Autumn home ❤️