Help Joella and Ben Recover from losing their daughter

Final Update:

This is not the update a grandpa would ever wish to make, but Baby Mio lost her fight to live on August 29th at 8:20pm.

We are still asking for help for Ben and Joella, to help offset lost income as well as help to defray the extensive medical bills that insurance has not covered. Please consider helping them out in this very difficult time, and your prayers for their recovery from this very difficult time.

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Here is Baby Mio’s update as of August 27th. It has been a rough couple of days and Mio’s condition took a serious turn for the worse on Tuesday morning. But once again, the team at the University of Utah Medical rallied, as did Baby Mio and her parents. Together they have been able to get Mio stabilized after the most critical scare we have had since she was born. In a few hours, Mio will be a week old, which in itself is an amazing feat. Again, we have been witnesses to the miracles of God in real time.

Toughest thing, no way to understand this for me until being in it, is the emotional swings between seeing those miracles in real time and then slightest thing that makes Mio and the staff fight to save her very life. It’s excruciating, and I can’t begin to describe that. That is taking a real toll on her parents and the rest of the family. Combine that with no sleep, and it is overwhelming at times.

Still, she is currently two hours from being 7 days old, and she is still alive. There are things we wish that were better, but there is that. She needs to be able to have enough blood pressure to allow her stomach to process food so she can gain weight. Mom’s milk is amazing, no surprise with her diet, but baby needs to be able to process it. Lots of things still need to go right, but we need to be grateful in the present, and she is here with us in the present.

And once again, the staff at the U have been beyond belief. Their competence is amazing, but the care and love they have shown Mio, her parents, and the whole family has been wonderful. We have been blessed in the process for sure. And for all who have prayed so diligently for Mio and her mom and dad, we are forever grateful, as well as those who have generously given through either their Venmo or through Go Fund Me, we want to make sure to give a big thank you!

-Rod Skyles

It is Saturday August 24, 2024, and as I am writing this, Baby Mio is within a few short hours of being 4 days old. While it has been an incredibly difficult and stressful for Joella and Ben as well as our family, Mio remains with us and continues to fight hard for her life. All day Friday and Friday night Mio struggled with getting enough oxygen in her blood, as her little lungs have yet to fully develop. She did stabilize Saturday morning, and mitigation efforts have been lightened. It is difficult to fathom what goes on in these situations, and many others must struggle through battles like our family is right now. Please pray for others who are going through the same fate.

Also, a huge shout out must go to the NICU team at the University of Utah Medical Center. They have gone above and beyond in treating Mio, but more than that, their hearts have been so kind and wonderful to our family, and we will be forever grateful. Not only is the team at the U top notch, but there is also a specialized research team from the University of Iowa that has studied births from 22 to 23 weeks extensively, and they are now consulting on Mio’s care. The support and care Mio is getting is really beyond words, but we will take this time to offer a huge THANK YOU!

August 22, 2024, Update

First, I want to thank everyone for the responses and the prayers, it means more than we could ever express, thank you!

Baby Mio is an incredible fighter just like her mom, and I think there is a bit of her mom’s stubbornness too, as the tiny thing has refused to quit through all this. The update this morning is that the bacterial infection appears to have been neutralized by the antibiotics, and no longer appears in her blood samples. At this point, now at almost 40 hours in, things have gone as well as possible, something I attribute to all of you wonderful people who have been praying for Mio and her parents, so again, thank you.

I was able to spend some time with Mio in the NICU last night, and while she is unimaginably tiny, she is absolutely adorable, with perfect tiny hands and feet, and a nose just like her grandmother’s. She also is blessed with some of the best care in the world at the University of Utah Medical Center, and we could not be more grateful to the staff that loves and cares for her around the clock. Currently, two specialist nurses are assigned to her at all times, and the doctors check on her numbers routinely. The first 24 hours included the bacterial infection, the placing of the umbilical tubes, the insertion of the breathing tube, the stabilizing of her temperature, along with a blood transfusion to aid in increasing her blood pressure. All those critical items have worked out wonderfully, thanks be to God! Finally, A big thank you to those who have already contributed. We’re extremely grateful for the support. After much discussion and going through insurance and other items, we have lowered the goal on Go Fund Me (https://gofund.me/44091e65 (https://gofund.me/44091e65)) to $50,000. Also, it looks like Venmo may require the last 4 digits of Ben’s phone number to ensure you mean to be sending him the money and not someone else. His last 4 digits are (0984) - thank you again for your generosity and support. We can’t tell you how much it means while b aby Mio fights for her life.

After years of wanting to start a family, my sweet daughter Joella was finally blessed with conceiving a child this spring. While the timing wasn’t great financially, she and her husband Ben were thrilled, and from the very beginning, vigilant on diet, exercise, and everything necessary in their life to make sure this pregnancy went well. However, Joella had some issues that were unknown until nearly halfway through the pregnancy, issues that eventually caused the early birth of their beautiful baby girl Mio (me-oh) on the evening of August 20th at 22 weeks and one day, about 18 weeks from full term.

While there were complications with the birth, Baby Mio arrived as healthy as one could expect at 1 pound and 1 ounce. There are many hurdles ahead, and already Mio is battling a bacterial infection, which, at her size, brings a great deal of risk. For those who cannot share financially, we welcome your prayers for Mio and for her parents.

For those in a position to help financially, we are seeking to raise $50,000 to help offset the costs of living for Joella and Ben while they remain by Baby Mio’s side as she wages her battle for life. Joella and Ben currently live 40 minutes from the hospital, and part of this money will be to secure living quarters closer to Mio, while if necessary, maintaining the remainder of their current lease. If successful, the stay in the hospital could be a year or more, and the NICU expenses over insurance are unknown at this point. Much of the remainder of the money raised would be utilized for those expenses.

This is a difficult thing for a dad and grandpa to ask, but right now, this is the one thing I can do to help. Ben’s Venmo QR code is attached, or you may follow this link if you prefer to give through Go Fund Me. Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated, including your prayers, which we ask everyone to please contribute. Thank you, and may God save our Baby Mio.