I cannot believe how fast the time has flown by and want to know where the last 7 years have gone. 7 years ago today began a test of my faith, patience, and many emotions. When Kaylee was born (via c-section) she was so perfect and little but my instincts kept telling me something was seriously not right. She couldn't stay warm, couldn't breastfeed, was jaundice, and made a really weird grunting noise. I keep telling the doctor's there was something wrong with her and they kept arguing that there was nothing wrong with her that I was just being a paranoid over-protective mother. FINALLY when she was a couple of hours old and me starting to get irrate (not me) they put her in the nursery/NICU for observation and testing...
Within a couple of hours after tons of lab work and chest x-rays, I learned she was born with a collapsed lung. That was the last time I was able to hold my baby girl for several days.
On the morning of July 16th she had her very first Air-Evac (medical helicopter) ride over to Banner Desert Medical Center where she spent the next 2 weeks fighting for her life. Upon landing at Banner Desert and entering the NICU unit her 2nd lung collapsed and they almost lost her. She spent 6 very long and agonizing days on a ventilator. It was one hurdle after another.. I was hospitalized in 1 hospital (for having a c-section) and she was in another. My wonderful doctor actually gave me a 4 hour pass on Kaylee's 2nd day at Banner Desert so I could go and see her and be with her. I will never forget the 1st time I saw her on life support in the incubator; tubes everywhere, iv's, her little eyes covered. It ripped my heart out. My precious baby girl so fragile and fighting for her life. I was not able to hold her but I could touch her. I don't think I had ever cried that much in my life until I was wheeled into the NICU and seen her. It took me along time to get to her incubator, I was a complete wreck. At one point I was told to say my good-byes because she wasn't going to survive. I have never felt so helpless and scared in life... Just the thought of losing her sent me into a fit of tears. After 6 days on the life support and in a drug induced coma, doctors were finally able to wean her off and she then spent 4 days on nasal prong oxygen but again had difficulty when they would try and wean her off. At 2 weeks old she was FINALLY able to come home.
A couple months later I almost lost her again but this time to RSV, where she spent another 4 days in the hospital.
At 11 months old she was diagnosed with a hemangeoma tumor on her nose right between her eyes. Unfortunately her's was on the inside of the skin and I was told she would require surgery to remove it. After 3 month visits for over a year, the pediatric facial/plastic surgeon said that she did not require the surgery as her body ended up absorbing the tumor. The bad part of the tumor was it weakened her eyes, which did require eye surgery to repair the weakened eye muscles.
With everything being said, Kaylee is and has been in GREAT health since her eye surgery in 2005 besides the normal colds and flu's.
I couldn't ask for a better daughter and wouldn't trade her for anything in the world. She is only 7 but she thinks she is 18. Lol (The joys of raising daughter's) I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for her as she begins 2nd grade and the next chapter in her life.
Happy 7th Birthday Kaylee Marie!!
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