Hello! I am Carrie Garnett and I am hoping to raise funds to help out my son, Austin, and daughter-in-law, Brittany.
On Wednesday, September 24th, Brittany gave birth by c-section to a beautiful baby boy, Michael Jay Carney. At birth, his breathing was shallow and he was whisked off to the nursery and put on oxygen. It was then found out that he was having problems feeding, so a feeding tube was put in. On Saturday, an X-ray was done due to him not having had a bowel movement, and an obstruction was found, so he was sent from Methodist over to OSF Children's Hospital where he was admitted to the NICU. A biopsy was done on Monday and today the results show Hirschsprung's Disease. He is scheduled for surgery on Thursday.
Now something new has started. When Brittany got to the hospital this morning, she was told that during the night his heart rate was dropping, so an EKG is now being scheduled. Poor baby Mikey can't catch a break.
In the meantime, Austin is the only one working as Brittany is off work for at least 6 weeks, possibly more. Austin missed work on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday due to the birth and then Monday for the biopsy, and now he will miss Thursday for the surgery. I am sure there will be other days he will have to miss too so he can be there for his son and wife. Brittany is currently spending the days in the NICU and the evenings at home with the other kids, which is resulting in a lot of money being spent on gas. Since she cannot drive for another 2 weeks, it means that if she cannot find a ride, then Austin is making 2 trips to Peoria every day. The $2500 I am hoping to raise will cover 2 months of rent and utilities so they do not get evicted from their apartment. If everyone can give a few dollars, they would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
Update: 10/1-When Austin and Brittany got up there today they were told the EKG results were normal and he has not had anymore heart rate drops. Also they have upped his feedings. He was only getting 10ccs of breast milk every 3 hours but since he seemed like he was starving and not throwing it up, he is now up to 20 CCS every 3 hours!
The surgery is still scheduled for tomorrow. It will be early afternoon unless they are able to bump it up due to a cancellation.
Update: 10/2- Michael is out of surgery and back in mom and dads arms. The amazing news is that no stoma was needed! The surgery should have fixed the issues, but only time will tell. They are hoping to have him home Monday or Tuesday, but worst case scenario he may be in the NICU another week. Please keep praying for the family!
Update: 10/3- Mikey was not happy when I went to visit him this morning! The poor baby was starving. Unfortunately he still has no bowel sounds so they would not let him have any milk. The doctors said he had to have bowel sounds first. They had him on morphine, fentanyl, and Dilaudid during the night for pain and it may have contributed to his bowels not "waking up" yet. In the meantime he is getting IV fluids and a squirt of sucrose water to trick him into sucking on the pacifier. Then around 1230 the surgeon came in and said that since he had a dirty diaper and was passing gas that they could give him a bottle of milk. Finally at 1 Brittany got to feed him 15ml of breastmilk. Michael drank every drop and was so calm after! I will be adding those pics for everyone to see. He will now be given a bottle every 3 hours and we are praying that he keeps it down and that his bowels start waking up.
Update: 10/4- Amazing news!!! Mikey is losing the catheter today!!!!!!! They are also upping his feeds and moving him out of intensive care and into intermediate care! He is doing awesome and is getting closer to coming home! ❤️❤️❤️
Update: 10/5- Mikey is doing great! All the tubes and IVs are gone. The only wires are the pulse ox and heart monitor! And he is downing 55ml bottles!!!. They are hoping to be able to take him home in a few days!!!!
Another 10/5 update--- they called asking both Austin and Brittany to come in for a few hours together to go over discharge instructions. Little man is probably coming home tomorrow!!!!
Update: 10/6-Michael is set to come home today!!! 13 days in the NICU and he is finally being set free!
Due to this Austin is having to miss yet another day of work since Brittany still has not been given the approval to drive yet. Every dollar we raised on this fundraiser will help cover those missed shifts. Thank you so much to all of those that have donated. You are such a a blessing to the Carney family❤️
Update: 10/8- Today Mikey had a weight checkup. The poor baby is losing weight instead of gaining and it is concerning to the doctor. Where as the surgery made him able to have a bowel movement, now the milk is just running right through him. His body is not absorbing any of the nutrients from the milk. He is now on daily weight checks with the pediatrician.
Update: 10/14- it's been a while since my last update. Mikey is doing much better. He is almost back up to his birth weight! Tomorrow is his 3 week checkup, so we are hoping to hear that he hit that weight.
We are currently 55% of the way to our fundraising goal. If you have a few dollars to donate to help them out with November rent and this months utilities that would be amazing. Austin has had to miss so much work and Brittany can't go back to work for at least 3 more weeks.
Update:10/28- Mikey gave us a scare Tuesday night. He started vomiting and Brittany had to rush him to OSF children's ER. At first they said he had rhinovirus, but it was later found that this was an issue related to Hirschsprung's Disease. The poor little guys rectum was closing up so everything he was eating had no where to go. After 2 nights in the hospital he is now home with Mom and Dad having to help him to be able to have bowel movements. Brittany was taught how to help him, but this is something no parent wants to have to do for their child. We are praying they did not send him home too early and that this was just a minor obstacle he will overcome.