Kaiden’s story
Written by: Bridget Carter
I found out I was pregnant in June of 2020. At 19 weeks, I found out my baby Kaiden had an Omphalocele. I was devastated and I didn't even know what it was.
Kaiden decided to make his grand entrance on New Year's Day (January 1, 2021). We spent 26 days in the NICU (the 1st go-around). But shortly later, on March 4th, we noticed Kaiden was not acting himself, and not taking his bottle. It was late so I decided that I would take him to the doctor the next morning. Shortly after, Kaiden started turning blue and stopped breathing. We quickly got him to the emergency room. I was a nervous wreck...I thought I had lost my baby.
After hours in the ER, the hospital airlifted Kaiden to Children's Hospital of Alabama. Kaiden stayed at COA from March 5th until the day he gained his wings on May 11th.
While we were there, each day was stressful not knowing what would happen next. Kaiden's health would begin to improve but then a few weeks after, he began having seizures which would drop his vitals. The nurses would have to use a ventilator on him to bring his stats back up. The team of doctors also prescribed him Keppra to treat his seizures.
On April 15th we were given the good news that Kaiden would be moving out of the NICU to a normal room. The day we moved him upstairs, Kaiden started desatting (his oxygen levels were dropping), so they took him back to the NICU. His stats kept dropping, and Kaiden became critically ill on April 26th. I was told that my baby wouldn't make it through the night. Hearing the doctor say those words, I felt numb. A few minutes later the doctor came up with a plan to place Kaiden on ECMO. He was on ECMO for 7 days and was doing really well.
On May 11th, Kaiden took a turn for the worse again. This time, there was nothing they could do. I held my baby in my arms until his heart stopped. It broke me having to lose my only child.
Sadly, my O baby Kaiden passed away on May 11th due to severe pulmonary hypertension. I have the MOO Facebook Group to thank for sharing all their stories and keeping each other uplifted. Being a part of that group really helped me in so many ways...I hope sharing Kaiden’s story will help other O Warriors and their families.