Meet NICU Graduate Newborn Baby Kai | July Spotlight | Boise NICU Newborn Photographer

Aug 2

Photo of newborn baby sleeping, wrapped in a white swaddle with hands peeking out and held up by his chin.

What was baby Kai’s gestation and size when he was born?

Kai is one of the bravest, strongest, little NICU warriors that I have met so far. Baby Kai was born at 25 weeks 6 days, weighing a mere 2lbs 2oz. He is considered a micro-preemie. Micro-preemies are babies that are born before 26 weeks gestation.

Why was baby Kai in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit?

Kai’s mother, Tawny, started having random cramping one day. She went in on the second day to get checked. She was having contractions, but wasn’t showing that she was dilated. However, within 30 minutes, she went from 0 to 100 and when they checked her, her water was bulging, and then it broke. The first 3 days in the NICU were very tough, trying to cope with the unexpected and gain an understanding of all the medical terminology. Baby Kai had two major brain bleeds (grade 3 and 4) on both right and left side of his brain. He also had lung hemorrhage and had pocket of air in his lung, which was fixed without major intervention. He was on the ventilator for 2 months. He had severe hydrocephalus which needed early intervention around 3 weeks to relieve the pressure. Then he had to get a drain to release excess fluid that was building up in his brain.

Newborn baby wrapped in a white swaddle, laying on a white blanket, with toes peeking out.

What kind of treatment and procedures did baby Kai have to undergo in the NICU?

Baby Kai was transferred from one hospital to the other for the drain procedure. They did not have good experience and believe medical mistakes were made that could have killed him if Mama wasn’t such a good advocate. The first hospital they were at had donor-based milk fortifier while the hospital they were transferred to had cow-based fortifier (Similac). Mama was not happy about that, but didn’t realize she had a choice to use just her breast milk. Poor baby Kai ended up getting NEC (Necrotizing enterocolitis), which is a common complication with preemies. Kai underwent 7 days of antibiotics and IV nutrition. He also had inguinal hernia and had to have surgery for that. When he had medical NEC, his intestines ended up sticking to the internal sac and they had to cauterize.

Kai was on the drain for hydrocephalus for about a week. They were taking about 5ml of fluid out of his brain. He started having Brady’s and dips with ventilation. Mom made call that they should take drain out or lower dose of fluid coming out (had had about 100ml taken out at that point). He then needed to have a subgaleal shunt. They were not able to make the CPAP work, so he was re-intubated for a few weeks until he could breathe better on nasal canula. Doctors put him on albuterol to help with bronchial inflammation. After the albuterol treatment, he was tachychardic for a long time (up to 240bpm). He was puffy from fluid retention and needed a diuretic. They gave him two rounds, which was probably excessive. Then he ended up needing a blood transfusion.

Photo of a newborn baby wrapped in a white swaddle in the pretzel pose with legs crossed and feet showing

When first transferred to the other hospital, he was out of the incubator with humidity, but they put him back in just because that’s what they typically do until 34 weeks Gestational Age. They said the benefit of the incubator is to help with dry skin. He ended up getting overheated and getting a fever because he was too hot.

Kai was transferred back to the first hospital after the subgaleal shunt was installed, where he stayed for 9 weeks until they went back to the other hospital for a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt. They were there for a few weeks and then hey got discharged.

How is baby Kai doing now?

Kai came home on a feeding tube and he pulled it out just days before his photo shoot. They are currently evaluating how he handles feeding without the tube to see whether he can keep it out. He was technically just over 4 months old when I went to take his photo, but very much still a newborn at only 1 month gestational age.

This family has been through so much during their NICU journey and they are some of the strongest people. It is clear that Kai is incredibly loved and he is lucky to have such fierce parents advocating for him.