NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE AWARENESS MONTH
  • Home
  • About
    • History
    • Blog
    • Contact
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Start a Fundraiser
    • Supporter Toolkit
    • Partner Toolkit
    • Become a Sponsor
    • Become a Nonprofit Partner
    • Initiative Days
    • Random Acts of Kindness
    • Share Your Story
    • Remembrance Day
  • Nurture Award
  • Partners
  • Give
  • Resources
    • Disorder Resources
    • NICU Resources
    • Regional NICU Resources
    • For Health Professionals
  • Honoring all NICU babies

Ryan's Story

9/3/2016

 
Picture
I was exactly 23 weeks pregnant when I was at work and went into active labor. As an ER nurse, I knew that the outcome of babies born this early more likely than not was not a good one. The two days I was on bed rest were filled with terrifying discussions about "viability" and the low percentage that my child would even survive outside of the delivery room. At the hospital I was admitted to, babies born at 23 weeks and 4 days had at least a sliver of a chance. Any babies born before that were too small and too premature.

After two scary days on bed rest, I was rushed into an emergency c-section. My labor had progressed past the point of no return. I don't remember much from my time in the delivery room, but I do remember hearing a nurse shout, "the baby's moving!," being told it was a boy, then giving him a quick kiss before he was rushed to the NICU and placed on a ventilator. Ryan was born at 23 weeks and 3 days, technically not a viable baby. He weighed 1 pound, 5 ounces.

Ryan spent weeks after that fighting for his life. Because he was so early, his lungs were so underdeveloped and kept shutting down. The first few weeks he was so sick and fragile he couldn't be repositioned in his isolette. His airway was so tiny any movement could dislodge his breathing tube and he wouldn't be able to get oxygen. We sat by his isolette day and night, holding our breaths every time his heart rate dropped or his oxygen plummeted.

At one point a few weeks in, Ryan's lungs continued to shut down. The doctors threw everything they could at him and he wasn't improving. The neonatologist gave us the possibility of the grim outcome, and promised to do everything they could. We prepared for the worst scenario, but the whole time Ryan kept kicking away in his isolette and fighting harder than anyone could imagine.

Miraculously, Ryan turned the corner and pulled through. His lungs were still precarious, but every day began to look better and better. After 3 weeks, he was finally stable enough that I could hold him. Holding his tiny, less than two pound body against my chest was the best moment I could have imagined.

Picture
​Ryan spent 9 weeks on a ventilator before he was able to be weaned off and onto oxygen. Multiple times, he pulled out his own breathing tube. I watched him turn blue and lifeless as they struggled to get him breathing and reinsert his tube more times than I can count. Finally, one day Ryan decided enough was enough, pulled out his tube, and never looked back.

He then spent weeks on Bipap, then CPAP, then high flow oxygen, then a nasal cannula. He had to be transported to another NICU for laser eye surgery for retinopathy of prematurity. Every day he fought, and grew, and exceeded the expectations of all of the medical staff. Finally, after 146 days in the NICU, exactly one month after his due date, Ryan came home for good. No oxygen, no monitor, and no long term issues to be had.

As I sit and type this, the miracle baby that was not supposed to make it out of the delivery room is smiling and laughing away. We are forever indebted to the NICU doctors, PAs, APRNs, nurses, and staff for everything they did for Ryan and fighting as hard as he did for the best possible outcome. I'm currently in graduate school to become an APRN myself, with the hopes of working in the NICU upon graduation and pay it forward to more tiny, incredible miracles like Ryan.

Written by: Katie Vigil, mother of Ryan
Maureen Gill
9/5/2016 06:47:12 pm

Thank you for sharing your inspiring story! What a strong little boy! So happy to hear he is at home and thriving. So touched by your devotion to help others. God Bless!

lynne
9/8/2016 03:43:45 pm

What a heart warming story
So glad Ryan is doing so very very well.
These accounts are a wondwrful way to enlighten other parents going through the same experiances and to show there is light at the end of the tunnel
My very best wishes for a bright and happy future
Lynne xx

DEBBIE
9/9/2016 07:38:37 pm

Such a great and happy outcome. Well written Katie. Best of luck with your APRN. The best Nurses in specialties are the ones who have lived the circumstance. Go Ryan. You are a cutie pie. Just ask Auntie Lori. 🍀💙😍

Kathy
9/9/2016 08:13:56 pm

Yours is a wonderful sucess story. Even though it seemed like a lifetime, I'm so glad that Ryan is home and thriving. Good luck with your APRN. Your experience in the NICU can only make you more effective in your patients lives.

Tamera
9/10/2016 10:24:47 am

I read this with tears welling up in my eyes, confirmation on why we love our jobs and the joys of sharing in such wonderful triumphs for our patients and their families... your dedication and love along with ours is a miracle of Intention in healing. Thank you for sharing your story...

Deborah Collier
9/10/2016 08:48:07 pm

So well written, Katie. holding him in my arms the other day made the miracle as real as ever. god bless you all. you won the fight! Ryan strong!


Comments are closed.

    Archives

    September 2022
    August 2022
    October 2021
    September 2018
    September 2017
    June 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Project Sweet Peas is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania.
​FEIN # 27-3679594


www.projectsweetpeas.com
Copyright © 2021 | Project Sweet Peas | 45 Boylston Ave, Warwick, RI | nicuawareness@projectsweetpeas.com
  • Home
  • About
    • History
    • Blog
    • Contact
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Start a Fundraiser
    • Supporter Toolkit
    • Partner Toolkit
    • Become a Sponsor
    • Become a Nonprofit Partner
    • Initiative Days
    • Random Acts of Kindness
    • Share Your Story
    • Remembrance Day
  • Nurture Award
  • Partners
  • Give
  • Resources
    • Disorder Resources
    • NICU Resources
    • Regional NICU Resources
    • For Health Professionals
  • Honoring all NICU babies