Blakely’s Journey
Blakely was born at 26 weeks + 4 days gestation, weighing 1035 grams, due to a potential placental abruption. Up until preterm labor, Megan had a very uneventful pregnancy so her early arrival was a big surprise. Megan went into preterm labor at 26 weeks + 1 day. After being monitored in the hospital for 3 days, she was discharged with hopes that everything was ok and we could make it to term. Much to our surprise, labor resumed only hours after being home from the hospital. Blakely was born within 45 minutes of arriving back to the hospital.
Blakely graduated from the NICU shortly after her due date. As with any extended NICU stay, her journey was full of ups and downs. During Blakely’s 98 day stay in the NICU, she had over 120 pokes, 2 central lines, 2 PICC lines, over 15 IVs, several feeding tubes (she only ripped 1-2 out on her own), 1 blood transfusion, 1 lumbar puncture, 3 echocardiograms, 2 renal ultrasounds, 2 abdominal ultrasounds, 1 brain ultrasound, 1 leg ultrasound, and over 25 x-rays. She luckily was only intubated for 12 hours but was on CPAP/BiPAP/RAM for 43 days and then low flow oxygen for the last 54 days of her stay. Blakely spent 9 days total of phototherapy under the blue lights for jaundice. She also had a total of 66 days of caffeine for her apnea. She really resisted getting off that caffeine! Blakely had a large PDA heart murmur that luckily reduced in size after one round of Tylenol treatment and then closed on its own. She also has a PFO that cardiology anticipates will close by the time she is 2 years old. Blakely had two separate infections, including a UTI and a mild case of NEC, as well as several other sepsis scares. She struggled with weight gain during her stay but once her NEC cleared she started to meet her weight gain goals. The feeding journey for preemies can be a challenging one but overall she did pretty well and was able to meet her oral feed goals before her due date. Blakely was monitored for Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) but luckily progressed after discharge to not needing any type of intervention. Blakely also developed hypertension towards the end of her NICU stay. They couldn’t identify a specific cause so attributed it to prematurity. She needed medication for about 6 months before she grew out of it. Blakely was discharged with oxygen and continues to need oxygen overnight, primarily due to the high elevation.
Challenges of a micropreemie do not end after the NICU but Blakely is working hard each day to catch up. She stays busy with her various appointments and therapies. Weight gain and feeding tend to be a constant struggle for her but we have a great support team to help along this journey.