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

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.

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.

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.

Meet NICU Graduate Marley Rae!

Meet NICU Graduate MarleyRae! This little fighter just turned 3 years old, and I had the chance to photograph her right before her birthday. This Boise NICU Project portrait session was so fun and this little girl just sparkled, literally!

Marley was born at 33 weeks weighing in at 3 lbs 10 oz. Mama had a difficult pregnancy from the beginning, starting with a strange rash. Turns out this can happen when pregnant with twins. Sadly, MarleyRae's twin was lost early in the pregnancy 😢 Poor Mama had all the difficulties of a twin pregnancy without the reward of both babies.

Mama spent over a week in the hospital due to high blood pressure and she was being monitored for severe #preeclampsia. She awoke early in the morning to the worst headache she had ever experienced. Shortly thereafter, MarleyRae was born via emergency C-section.

Meet NICU Graduate Baby Baylor

Meet Baby Baylor! This little fighter was born at 27+5, weighed just 2lb 1oz at birth, and spent 85 days in the NICU.

It was Sunday evening and Momma Taylor was over at her mom's house for dinner when she started experiencing a very bad headache. They were headed home and she didn't want to go to the hospital because she had a doctors appointment the next morning. She was already being monitored for pre pre-eclampsia because she had high blood pressure. When the migraine became so severe that Taylor told her husband that she felt like she was going to vomit, he immediately pulled off the highway and took her to the hospital (Good job Dad!!). At the hospital, there was a whole line of people and they were taking everyone's temperature and blood pressure as they were checking in. Taylor said she did not even get to sit down and wait before they came to get her and took her back. Taylor was immediately given two steroid shots to help speed lung development of the baby.

Since Taylor was less than 32 weeks pregnant, and they were at St. Luke's Meridian, they had to stabilize her so that she could be transported the next morning to St. Luke's Boise, which has a Level 4 NICU. Learn about what level of NICU care is provided at the different St. Lukes locations in the Treasure Valley.

What are the different Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) levels?

• Level I: Basic newborn care. Level 1 nurseries care for healthy, full-term babies.

• Level II: Advanced newborn care. Level 2 can care for babies with a gestational age of 32 weeks or greater.

• Level III: Subspecialty newborn care. Level 3 NICU can care for babies born at 27 weeks of gestation or greater.

• Level IV: Highest level of neonatal care. Level 4 NICU can care for babies as young as 22 weeks gestation and weighing less than 1 pound 13 ounces.

Taylor was in the hospital for 2 days before baby Baylor was born. Afterwards, Taylor spent 12 hours a day in the NICU with her baby. For the whole first month, she was not even allowed to hold him because he had such a bad gag reflux and would sometimes throw up just from being touched.

One of the hardest parts of their journey was that so many people knew that Baby Baylor had been born and wanted to meet him, but no one was allowed in the NICU because of restricted visitation. One of the great things about this journey was getting to know so many of the nurses on a more personal level. The support of her husband was what helped her get through, especially during the early days after delivery when she was tired and loopy from birth and the magnesium she was being given. Dad actually learned from the lactation consultant how to express milk and pump for her because she couldn't wake up to do it on her own. Then he taught her how to do it 👏

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Meet NICU Graduate Baby Ariel | Boise NICU Baby Photography

Baby Ariel was born at 33 weeks due to Momma Stephanie experiencing severe pre-eclampsia.

Stephanie had experienced pre-eclampsia with her first child, so she knew she was at risk again with her second. She did not expect baby Ariel to come quite so early though. They had just started moving from Boise into their new house in Mountain home when Stephanie started to experience a terrible migraine. They went to the hospital and she was admitted. She was given the shots to speed up lung development and also magnesium for her preeclampsia She said the magnesium made her very loopy, like she was hallucinating. What a strange feeling! However, nothing seemed to help with the migraine. She was given hydromorphone and that did not even touch the migraine pain. When her doctor came in the next morning, she made the call to do an emergency C-section because she was afraid that Stephanie was at too high of a risk for having a stroke.

The commute from Mountain Home to the NICU in Boise was exhausting. Stephanie also had a 3 year old boy at home who had been excited to move into a new house and be a big brother. Fortunately, the grandparents were able to help out with watching the older child, but poor big brother was not enjoying his new house very much because Mommy and Daddy were hardly ever home. They are now enjoying having Ariel at home and finally getting settled in.

Moving is so much work, I just can’t even imagine going through the trauma of the NICU just days after starting that process. Stephanie, you are such a brave, strong Momma!

Meet NICU Graduate Baby Nathaniel | Boise NICU Baby Photography

This sweetie was born at 32 weeks gestation and stayed in the NICU for 30 days. He didn't suffer any major complications, but he did have a feeding tube. He has to wear a helmet for a flat spot on the back of his head, but he took it off just for me.

Mama experienced spontaneous preterm labor, with her water breaking at 30 weeks. At the hospital, they gave her a steroid shot to speed up baby's lung development and more medicine to stop labor. She was able to keep him in for a little over a week before going into labor again and having to have an emergency C-section.

They also have a 4 year old at home and the father had to go back to work right away. So Grandma came out to care for the older sibling while Mama was in the hospital. After Mama was discharged from the hospital, Grandma took the older sibling back to her house in California. So poor Mama not only had to leave her newborn baby in the NICU, but she had to be separated from her 4 year old Luckily, the 4 year old had a fun time with Grandma!

When talking about the hardest part of her NICU journey, she mentioned how difficult it was to leave her baby at the hospital. This is one of the most heart-wrenching parts about being a NICU mom. Not only have you suddenly become two instead of one, but you are deprived of the physical closeness when you have to go home and rest. Balancing your own recovery with the fierce desire to be with and to try to care for your baby is an incredible feat.

She mentioned that one of the things that really helped her out was finding the @dearnicumama podcast and listening to that.

Meet NICU Graduate Baby Callan | Boise NICU Newborn Photography

This handsome fellow was born at 34 weeks and spent 16 days in the NICU. He was such a little sweetie!

His mama had a terrible headache and didn't think much of it, but thankfully she decided to go get checked out anyway. She was diagnosed with #preeclampsia but she was stable enough to be able to get the steroid injection to help speed up lung development. Several days later, she was being induced for a vaginal delivery (after having baby flipped from being in a transverse position). When the doctor broke her water, she felt a prolapsed cord. Mama had to have an emergency C-section. They didn't even have enough time to give her a spinal block, so she had to be put under with general anesthesia and did not get to be conscious for the birth.

When we discussed what some of the biggest challenges were during her NICU journey, she mentioned the challenge to manage everything, especially having a toddler at home. And poor big sis was so sad that her baby brother was in the hospital and she wasn't able to meet him!

Who else has had to navigate a NICU stay with older children at home? Was there anything that helped you cope with and manage this situation?