Brayden's NICU Story

Hmm, where to begin and what to share about his life! As I sit here now, on this rainy Saturday morning, my sweet redhead is talking my ear off. Sometimes in the hustle of life it's easy to get overwhelmed with the chaos but it's in these moments I'm reminded of God's goodness on Brayden's life and I'm so thankful I have a chatty redhead asking for pancakes as I drink my morning coffee.

It was my first pregnancy, a summer baby on the way and it sure was hot! My original due date was at the end of June but Brayden wasn't coming anytime soon. I guess he was enjoying his pickles and Baked Lays potato chips which I craved the whole pregnancy. I remember family coming in for the 4th of July holiday in hopes that we would have a baby to celebrate too. 

Brayden was staying put so we had to be induced on July 5th. Little did we know what we were facing come July 6th in the early hours of the morning. The morning of his birth was a whirlwind. Not long after contractions started, Brayden’s heart rate kept dropping. Little did we know, he had the cord wrapped around his neck. We were rushed into an emergency C-section. It was chaos. They got him out and all I can remember is it was quiet. He wasn’t crying, everyone was looking at each other & rushing around. They let me see him for two seconds before whisking him away. While they sowed me up, I just remember lying there helpless and wondering what was wrong with my baby. Brayden not only had the cord wrapped around his neck, but he had also swallowed meconium while in the womb. He was very sick. This began our tour of multiple hospitals.

Hospital #2

I had no idea at the time, but some hospitals have different “levels” of NICU and where we had Brayden didn’t have the proper care he needed so we both were transferred to a hospital about 30 minutes away. All within a few hours of him being born.

The minutes and hours that ensued after we’re excruciatingly long. Waiting for updates, asking if we could see him all while trying to recover from an emergency c-section. I learned in those moments that I could push through whatever I was facing to make sure my son was okay. I remember us having to sign paperwork for procedures we had no idea about but basically saying do whatever you need to do to save his life. It was a whirlwind as a first-time parent.

They finally let us see him after a few hours when he was stable, but we could only talk in a low voice and hold his hand (pictured left). His body was fighting so hard during this time that too much stimulation was not good for him. Even with everything they tried, Brayden continued to get worse. We only spent a couple of days before we needed to be transferred again. Brayden had a hole in his lung and his body was not clearing out the meconium like it should. He needed ECMO (basically dialysis for the lungs) so his body could heal. They could not perform that at the hospital we were at so we were transferred again.

Hospital #3

I didn't know how serious ECMO was until a doctor said it’s basically our last hail Mary to save his life. I’ll never forget leaning over his bed, his extremities were turning blue (because his body wasn’t getting enough oxygen) crying and praying. I promised the Lord that if he would save his life, we would make it full of purpose. He was on ECMO for 3 or 4 days.

We were told all the legal things in the hospital of side effects of his procedures, medicines, etc .. like he could have delays, he could have setbacks, he could still not make it. Many days it felt like it was stacked against us, but we chose to trust the Lord. I put bible verses around his bed and we had him on prayer teams across the world. After a long 22 days of ups and downs, we brought him home!

There were so many moments we saw God moving in Brayden’s situation and the days spent at the hospital. One was when we were trying to figure logistics of Brayden being at a hospital almost an hour from our house, I couldn’t drive and we knew we were going to have a long road ahead of us. A social worker at the hospital got us connected with the Ronald McDonald House. If you don’t know what that is, I encourage you to look it up. We stayed there, they had shuttles to get us to the hospital, they fed us and had daily activities to help alleviate the stress. I will never forget the impact it had on our lives.

Brayden is a thriving, beautiful redhead. He's always been full of joy and keeps us laughing. He's an old soul, full of empathy and compassion for others. I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for his life!