Help Baby Judah, Mom and Dad
Donation protected
As many of you may already know, my nephew, Judah James Ernst, was born February 24 at 10:09 PM in a rural hospital in Waimea, Hawaii, USA. He weighs 10lb. 8.7oz. (4.8kg) and was born naturally. The labor lasted nearly 14 hours, but once he came out it was clear to the doctors that something had gone wrong. Judah had, at some point, ingested meconium. Meconium basically coats the inside of the lungs like tar, as well as, poisons the child. To further complicate his situation, the strain from the meconium caused his lung to perforate and ultimately collapse. After many hours of working to stabilize him, it was deemed necessary to life-flight him with his dad to the NICU at Kani'opali Hospital on Oahu.
Once there, the doctors made the call to put little Judah on ECMO, or, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. It is a very invasive life support system that oxygenates the blood when the body is unable to do it on it's own. It puts baby into a very fragile state where sedation and usually a medically induced and managed paralysis are mandatory. Judah is a very big and very strong little guy, so he requires a little more sedation than most newborns. The reason for being on the ECMO is to allow the lungs time to seal the hole and heal before trying to return control of heart and lungs to Judah.
Things can change in a split second from good to bad. It is incredibly taxing physically and emotionally. We spend most of our time at the hospital with Judah, but the reality is that we need to rest ourselves. As you can imagine, especially for mommy and daddy, this is easier said than done.
As far as time, the doctors estimate at least a month in the NICU in Honolulu for little Judah. This means Kenneth and Anna aren't going home to the big island any time soon. They are going to need some financial help to afford to stay in Honolulu to be with their precious little baby boy.
We are not asking for a lot of money. We just want to see their most basic needs (food, lodging, transportation, etc.) met, so they will not have to worry about things that will just add unnecessary stress and detract from their ability to focus on Judah. Please, join us in supporting these two amazing people and their unbelievably resiliant fighter of a baby boy.
Once there, the doctors made the call to put little Judah on ECMO, or, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. It is a very invasive life support system that oxygenates the blood when the body is unable to do it on it's own. It puts baby into a very fragile state where sedation and usually a medically induced and managed paralysis are mandatory. Judah is a very big and very strong little guy, so he requires a little more sedation than most newborns. The reason for being on the ECMO is to allow the lungs time to seal the hole and heal before trying to return control of heart and lungs to Judah.
Things can change in a split second from good to bad. It is incredibly taxing physically and emotionally. We spend most of our time at the hospital with Judah, but the reality is that we need to rest ourselves. As you can imagine, especially for mommy and daddy, this is easier said than done.
As far as time, the doctors estimate at least a month in the NICU in Honolulu for little Judah. This means Kenneth and Anna aren't going home to the big island any time soon. They are going to need some financial help to afford to stay in Honolulu to be with their precious little baby boy.
We are not asking for a lot of money. We just want to see their most basic needs (food, lodging, transportation, etc.) met, so they will not have to worry about things that will just add unnecessary stress and detract from their ability to focus on Judah. Please, join us in supporting these two amazing people and their unbelievably resiliant fighter of a baby boy.
Organizer
Ernst Jordan
Organizer
Portland, OR
