Zion

Child's Birth Year
2023

State/Province/Territory
Colorado

NICU Hospital for my journey
Sioux Falls Avera NICU

My NICU Graduate's Journey
Zion was born full term at 38 weeks. There were no complications with the pregnancy and when he was born he came out screaming! A few minutes later he started struggling to breathe. After a full work up it was discovered he had a pneumothorax, at the time they decided to wait and watch. A few hours later on the repeat xray it showed that it had progressed to a bilateral pneumothorax. Our NICU was 2 hours away so they called a helicopter and sent him on his way while his dad and I had to drive to meet him there. After several days in the NICU he was discharged with a clean bill of health. We are grateful that it was a relatively short stay but a scary time nonetheless!
He still has problems with reactive airway disease and frequent pneumonia that his pulmonologist says may be a result of the birth trauma.
None of this has slowed him down one bit though!

What makes you proud of your NICU graduate?
He’s energetic, full of life and has such a big heart! He’s growing into such an amazing young boy!

Weight at Birth (lbs. or Grams)
6 lbs 1 oz

Weeks Gestation
38 weeks

Time spent in the NICU (Specify Number of Days, Months, or Years)
4 days