Family Story Assets (Word Document, Photos)
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Our daughter, Kaylin May Bussey was born on November 14,
2017 at 22 weeks and 6 days, weighing a mighty 12.8 ounces and 10.75”
long. She is the smallest surviving
preemie that the Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest hospital has ever had. The night
before Kaylin was born, the doctors gave her a less than 3% of surviving. Furthermore, if she did survive, she was at
an increased risk of developing severe disabilities. That did not hinder our decision to do
everything we could to save her life.
Kaylin is now a happy and healthy baby girl whom is exceeding everyone’s
expectations. Kaylin's story proves that miracles do happen if we believe and
fight for what our hearts are telling us.
Kaylin spent 130 days in the NICU and defied all odds
stacked against her. Her only major
complications were common respiratory and eye issues. Her lungs were her biggest challenge, as
expected for being so early.
Surprisingly, she only needed to be re-intubated one time when she was
45 days old after receiving only one round of steroids. Kaylin proved that she
no longer needed oxygen altogether after 118 days.
Her "honeymoon phase", which
normally only lasts a few days, lasted 17 days.
At that time her lungs started to fail and she was placed on the
oscillator for a little over two weeks. A neonatologist recently told us that
Kaylin’s success with the oscillator is now influencing them to use the
oscillator more frequently, and for longer periods of times for preemies with
respiratory complications. In regard to her eyes, Kaylin had severe retinopathy
of prematurity (ROP), which required eye injections in the NICU and laser eye
surgery after discharge to correct the issue. At this time, her vision is
nearly perfect and she doesn't show any signs of respiratory issues.
Although Kaylin had many ups and downs, she had a gentle
journey overall. We say this because she avoided other major complications that
we were warned about on multiple occasions, such as brain bleeds, infections,
chest tubes, cardiac and gastrointestinal issues, and feeding
difficulties. She proves once again that
miracles do happen if we believe, never lose hope and always have faith.
Let us add a very special piece to Kaylin’s story, she has
her own personal and eternal guardian angel; her twin brother Robert Michael
whom we lost at 16 weeks due to a rare genetic abnormality. We say that she
also has the strength of two babies, which is one reason that she is such a
strong little girl. Kaylin is the epitome of a miracle and we are honored to be
her parents.
No one would even know that
she is a micropreemie that has overcome so many obstacles and has had such a
rough start in life. She is absolutely
beautiful, with the most adorable personality and contagious smile, and is stronger
than anyone we know. She is meeting all of her expected milestones and
surprises us every day.
Although she is little, she is fierce.
