Kyleigh
Kyleigh was born by emergency c-section weighing 1 pound,
4 ounces at just 23 weeks and 2 days gestation on October
29th, 2014. We were told there was no certainty that she would
survive. We were told to expect a roller coaster ride in the
NICU, to expect Kyleigh’s “honeymoon phase” to end within
the first 48 – 72 hours of her birth, and that we had a long road
ahead of us. The first time I saw her, I was in shock. The first time
someone said “congratulations” to me, I rejected it. How could
this possibly be the time for congratulations? I very quickly
learned that this was the perfect time. There were the scary
times...the first time I saw her whole tiny body being shaken by
the high-frequency ventilator terrified me. She was so tiny, we
were afraid to touch her. During Kyleigh’s stay, she contracted
e-coli, battled NEC, and was sick once from an unknown cause.
Kyleigh was diagnosed with a level 1 brain bleed. She also had
some issues with ROP in her eyes. She was intubated for a total
of 18 days. But we focused on the progress and we celebrated
the small steps.
It took a while for Kyleigh to hit the two pound mark, but when she did, we had a party. Gradually, Kyleigh went from intubation to CPAP to wall oxygen. She went from an isolette to an open crib. She went from a feeding tube to a bottle and breast. We were ecstatic the first day she got to wear cute little clothes. We were amazed when we were told that Kyleigh’s level 1 brain bleed had resolved itself and her brain was normal. And we were in shock when we were told that Kyleigh would be going home soon. Kyleigh spent her first
Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New
Year’s in the NICU. We cried, we raged, we
laughed, we loved. We brought our beautiful
baby girl home onValentine’s Day to finally meet
her big brother, who had waited 108 days to
meet her.
Celebrating with Dr. B.
We experienced so much during Kyleigh’s stay in the NICU – we learned
about trust, strength, love, resilience, faith, and hope. We learned how
amazing the Mercy NICU team is, how much they truly care, how resilient we
as people are, and how strong these teeny tiny babies are. We learned what it
means to be witness to a true miracle.
A mother's love