Help Aid Preemie HuxLee's Critical Care Journey

My sister, Brittany, and SIL Courtney, decided to start a family together through IVF back in 2022. They welcomed their first child, Oakley William, into the world on November 1, 2022, however, the welcoming wasn't what any of us had in mind. Cephalopelvic disproportion prevented Oakley from passing through Brittany's pelvic opening and he was stuck for what seemed to be an eternity. This resulted in an Emergency C-Section at which point he developed meconium aspiration syndrome. A lot went wrong during Oakley's delivery, and, a lot could have been prevented had the Doctor not allowed Brittany to go so long post-amniotomy. Oakley ended up in the NICU for 11 days before being able to come home.

Fast forward to March 2024, Brittany and Courtney decided to expand their family and give Oakley a sibling, IVF worked once again and Brittany and Courtney would soon welcome yet another son into the world on December 15, 2024. This pregnancy had a rough start, but despite it all, they stayed positive and grateful for yet another blessing sent their way. That was until everything changed drastically on Saturday, September 14th when Brittany woke up with cramps, pressure, and what she would soon find out to be labor contractions at just 27 weeks gestation. The Doctor was paged and that afternoon she was instructed to go to the hospital. Everything happened so fast, her water bag was bulging from her cervix, and she was transferred by ambulance to a different hospital that had a level III neonatal intensive care unit that could provide care for premature and critically ill infants. Upon her arrival, her water bag began to leak and HuxLee could visually be seen at her cervix. The decision was made shortly after that they needed to be prepped for an Emergency C-section. At 9:54 pm on Saturday September 14th, HuxLee was born 13 weeks early at just 2lbs 2oz and 13" long. It was within a short few hours that they were hit with another blow, HuxLee had a fungal infection that they would soon find out went to his bloodstream. HuxLee is now in critical condition. To keep baby HuxLee alive he has needed extensive care and treatment which have included: a spinal tap, 2 blood transfusions, PICC lines (4x), IV catheters (3x), a feeding tube, surgery to place a Central Line to his heart, Ventilator, Incubator, X-rays, ultrasounds, invasive eye-exams, among many other tests. He has had a pleural effusion, fungal infection in his blood, sepsis, damaged tissue in his neck causing his neck to swell due to the placement of his PICC line. Not to mention the bruising, swelling, and lumps along his extremities from the trauma of needles. Its definitley a sight no parent wants to see happening to their child.

None of us know what the future holds, he takes 5 steps forward and 10 steps back, each day is something different. All we can do is pray and offer our love and support any way we can, but, that doesn't take away the pain, worry, and reality of the severity of the situation.

Courtney cannot work at this time, not only does she need to be home for Oakley, but, she is commuting to and from the hospital to be beside Brittany and HuxLee every chance she gets. This will be a long road. As a parent of 3 myself, I couldn't even imagine what it is like watching your child fight for their life every second of every day and not being able to take their pain and suffering away. But, if we can all come together and help take some financial burden off Brittany and Courtney, that would allow them to spend the next however many months together, as a family, focusing on their boys and not worrying about the finances that will be accumulating from not being able to work during this fragile and difficult time.

It is absolutely ok if you are unable to donate, we just ask that you keep HuxLee in your prayers and pray that he stays strong, fights, and makes it through.

"You CAN do the IMPOSSIBLE, because you’ve been through the UNIMAGINABLE"

-Christina Rasmussen