Dylan's Birth & 3+ Month Stay at Minneapolis Children's Hospital

About 2 years ago, Dylan was born at 29 weeks on February 4, 2016, very spontaneously. His fragile body weighed 3 pounds and was 16 inches long. At just 4 days old, Eric and I found out our little fighter was in trouble. Something was off that day and things turned quickly. After a lot of commotion, we learned that he likely had holes in his bowel and required an emergency exploratory surgery (yikes). This was the most terrifying day ever. We asked, "How could a baby who was now weighing 2lb and 15oz and only 4 days old, survive a surgery?" We were in shock as the surgeon team (~10 people) prepped him in his little NICU room. As the surgeon team wheeled Dylan in his isolette bed out of his NICU room to go to the operating room, we had quickly kissed Dylan goodbye and wondered if we’d ever see him again. During the surgery, they removed the piece(s) of the bowel with holes and placed the two open ends of the bowel coming out of his stomach (stomas) and also inserted a broviac in his chest as a central line for IVs. Thankfully, Dylan made it through the surgery and it went as smooth as one could expect for a 29 week baby, but we soon realized there was a lot more he would have to overcome before we were out of the woods.

In a couple of months (once Dylan was bigger, stronger and healthy), he would require a second bowel surgery to put his bowel back together. During those couple of months in the NICU/ICC, Dylan was treated for jaundice, required a blood transfusion, overcame breathing issues, required three head ultrasounds (for brain bleeding), had a skin specialist for issues from the stoma bags on his abdomen, had his broviac removed from his chest, required multiple eye exams, worked hard to build up his stamina with eating to remove the NG feeding tube, dealt with acid reflux complications (made his oxygen and heart rate drop), and had multiple x-rays, a hearing test, an echo, an enema, a car seat evaluation, etc.

On April 11th, still about 2 weeks before he should have been born, Dylan went in for his second surgery (ileostomy takedown) to reconnect his bowel so he could stool using his complete bowel and get rid of the stoma bag. The surgery was a success and once Dylan was 73 days old, we changed his first poopy diaper! Pretty strange thing to be excited about, but it's a vital function to be able to stool and we don't take it for granted in our house!

After about 3 weeks of recovery from his second surgery, he was well enough to come home… H-O-M-E, the sweetest words we have ever heard after he spent 93 long days in the NICU/ICC.

Life Today

Despite how traumatic Dylan's hospital stay was and all he had to fight through to get home, we feel blessed overall that he has remained happy and relatively healthy (we say relatively because yes he has been sick nonstop since we started him in daycare this past September, but he has not been admitted for any hospital stays which is all we can ask for!). We are grateful that today he is thriving. Dylan is a fun-loving, sweet and energetic child who is loved to pieces! He is overcoming all obstacles thrown his way and we are SO PROUD of him.

Although, the effects of his early entry into this world are still felt today. Dylan has more specialists now than he did in 2016/2017, which we honestly didn't see coming at this point in his journey. Since Dylan was discharged from Children's Hospital in May 2016, he has regularly received Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and just finished 8 months of Speech Therapy. He also has a care team consisting of five specialists through Early Intervention who work with him to help him hit his developmental milestones. Additionally, he is being monitored by a vision specialist, ENT, orthopedics, craniofacial specialist, and a pulmonologist. To say we are *busy* with appointments week by week as well as keeping up with scheduling and pertinent communication between all doctors and specialists, is an understatement. With that said, we also know things could be much more challenging and scary so we do feel grateful that these are our biggest hurdles.

Why We Love Children's Hospital

Raising money for Children's Hospital is very important to us. Dylan's life was saved there and he received excellent care during his 3+ month stay. Plus, Eric and I were treated well during Dylan's stay there, too. We were assigned a Social Worker, Financial Specialist, daily free meals through their cafeteria (for lactating mom's anyways), the ability to utilize the Ronald McDonald House inside Children's Hospital (literally steps away from the NICU/ICC), support groups, several helpful resources, a video camera to see Dylan when we were not in his hospital room, and some of the best doctors and nurses around caring for Dylan.

Today, the majority of Dylan's specialists are through Children's Specialty Care Clinics. We have found that the care they provide to Dylan, and us as parents, is superb. They also offer a NICU Follow Up Program where Dylan is evaluated by therapists and doctors regularly, which helps ensure he is getting all of the right support.

In addition, Children's Hospital is where we met most of the Teamie Preemie members that we are doing this walk with on Saturday, June 9th. These preemie families are a big part of our lives and we are thankful we were all able to connect during and after our childrens' hospital stays.

Our love for Children's Hospital is strong and will always hold a special place in our hearts. The people, the level of care, the programs in place, the constant evolution and desire to improve and be the best, is definitely felt and appreciated.

All funds raised through our team will go towards supporting the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Minnesota's Children's Hospitals. We wouldn't wish what our family went through on our worst enemy and therefore, we want as much support as possible to be dedicated to organizations that support prematurity, especially Minnesota's Children's Hospitals.