Leah's story:
Leah Alyse O'Dowd was born at 11:59 Pm on October 21st 2018. She was only 26 weeks 4 days gestation. Alyse had no obvious sign of pre-term labor. Her labor was very unexpected and started late Sunday night. Alyse and Frank headed to the hospital at 11 and got there are 11:15. Alyse was already full dilated and ready to push, Alyse had to stay calm and do everything she could to not push to get all the doctors and nurses and NICU doctors there and ready to care for Leah. She was born in the the amniotic sack weighing only 2lbs 2 oz and 14 inches long. She was born screaming and crying which was a really good sign. They still had to intubate her because of her age. She was breathing over the ventilator right away. Over the next 24 hours they lowered her ventilator down to 21% which is the lowest setting it can go. They were ready to remove the tube when they heard a heart murmur. They then had to run an echo and leave the ventilator in. They discovered she has a hole in her heart. They then gave her 3 does of medication to encourage the closing of the hole. This medication has it's risks that it can cause a brain bleed. They will run another Echo in the coming days to hopefully remove the ventilator soon. Her initial brain scan was perfect. All of her blood work has been very good. She had a central line going into her main artery through her belly button which was at a high risk of infection, they felt she was stable enough to have that removed late Wednesday night. Which means Alyse will be able to hold Leah for the very first time some time on Thursday hopefully. Since they want Leah's body to work on closing the hole in her heart they have not started feeding her yet. Just lipids and some oral swabbing of Alyse's breast milk to get Leah some of Alyse's antibodies. So Leah now weighs 1 lb 9 oz but the doctors say that is fine for now.
The doctors say she is strong and a fighter but she is very small and at a higher risk for infection. We are going into a very dangerous time of year being the start of cold and flu season. Alyse and Frank and restricting all visitors. Her big brother Logan has not even been able to go and see her yet. If Alyse, Frank or Logan get sick they do not want anyone including Alyse and Frank at the hospital then. They say the best thing right now for Leah is rest and Alyse's breast milk.
Alyse and Frank are very proud people and would never ask for this. So as their families we are setting this up for them. They have insurance but we are finding out there are some thing that are necessary that insurance will not cover. Such as the medical grade breast pump for Alyse that she has to use ever 2 hours around the clock. They also said Leah will be in the Hospital till probably her due date of end of January. Which means lots and lots of extra trips to the Hospital back and forth which takes a lot of gas. The hospital Leah is in is 20 min away from Alyse and Frank's home. They will need a brand new car seat that is certified for Premimature babies she will not be able to use the one they used with Logan. Lots of pumping supplies and sterilizing equipment and things we don't even know about yet.
We will be setting up an amazon registry if anyone wants to buy something specific we know they will need. Otherwise all funds raised will be used for things they need.
Leah Alyse O'Dowd was born at 11:59 Pm on October 21st 2018. She was only 26 weeks 4 days gestation. Alyse had no obvious sign of pre-term labor. Her labor was very unexpected and started late Sunday night. Alyse and Frank headed to the hospital at 11 and got there are 11:15. Alyse was already full dilated and ready to push, Alyse had to stay calm and do everything she could to not push to get all the doctors and nurses and NICU doctors there and ready to care for Leah. She was born in the the amniotic sack weighing only 2lbs 2 oz and 14 inches long. She was born screaming and crying which was a really good sign. They still had to intubate her because of her age. She was breathing over the ventilator right away. Over the next 24 hours they lowered her ventilator down to 21% which is the lowest setting it can go. They were ready to remove the tube when they heard a heart murmur. They then had to run an echo and leave the ventilator in. They discovered she has a hole in her heart. They then gave her 3 does of medication to encourage the closing of the hole. This medication has it's risks that it can cause a brain bleed. They will run another Echo in the coming days to hopefully remove the ventilator soon. Her initial brain scan was perfect. All of her blood work has been very good. She had a central line going into her main artery through her belly button which was at a high risk of infection, they felt she was stable enough to have that removed late Wednesday night. Which means Alyse will be able to hold Leah for the very first time some time on Thursday hopefully. Since they want Leah's body to work on closing the hole in her heart they have not started feeding her yet. Just lipids and some oral swabbing of Alyse's breast milk to get Leah some of Alyse's antibodies. So Leah now weighs 1 lb 9 oz but the doctors say that is fine for now.
The doctors say she is strong and a fighter but she is very small and at a higher risk for infection. We are going into a very dangerous time of year being the start of cold and flu season. Alyse and Frank and restricting all visitors. Her big brother Logan has not even been able to go and see her yet. If Alyse, Frank or Logan get sick they do not want anyone including Alyse and Frank at the hospital then. They say the best thing right now for Leah is rest and Alyse's breast milk.
Alyse and Frank are very proud people and would never ask for this. So as their families we are setting this up for them. They have insurance but we are finding out there are some thing that are necessary that insurance will not cover. Such as the medical grade breast pump for Alyse that she has to use ever 2 hours around the clock. They also said Leah will be in the Hospital till probably her due date of end of January. Which means lots and lots of extra trips to the Hospital back and forth which takes a lot of gas. The hospital Leah is in is 20 min away from Alyse and Frank's home. They will need a brand new car seat that is certified for Premimature babies she will not be able to use the one they used with Logan. Lots of pumping supplies and sterilizing equipment and things we don't even know about yet.
We will be setting up an amazon registry if anyone wants to buy something specific we know they will need. Otherwise all funds raised will be used for things they need.