A tiny baby boy, who was born at just 22 weeks weighing barely a pound, has gone home from the hospital after 350 days.
Caroline Golden was only seven weeks pregnant with her son when she began to have complications. While Caroline did not have a miscarriage, just seven weeks later, things took a turn for the worse and she had to be admitted to the emergency room, where doctors found that she was suffering from a subchorionic haematoma, where bleeding occurs between the amniotic sac and the uterine wall.
While Caroline and her unborn baby pulled through, she had to be put on bed rest when she was only 16 weeks gestation. But things began to deteriorate, and by 22 weeks, she was hospitalised.
Doctors hoped Caroline would not go into labour for a few more weeks, but when she started having contractions, they knew they could not wait any longer. “I was in an uncontrollable amount of pain and they put me on the monitor. They were losing Gabriel’s heartbeat”, she said.
Five days later, Caroline had an emergency Caesarean section, and baby Gabriel was born. Caroline and her husband had been told about the survival rates for babies born so prematurely and she remembered thinking “I’m not going to get to meet my baby before he passes away”.
Gabriel was born weighing only 17 ounces (482g) and was immediately given breathing support as his lungs were underdeveloped. Thankfully, in what one doctor referred to as a “miracle”, Gabriel’s condition improved over the next 10 days.
But baby Gabriel was not out of the woods yet. In the first month and a half of his life, Gabriel almost died on three separate occasions due to low oxygen levels. He was eventually diagnosed with chronic lung disease, and, by April this year, his parents were informed that he would need a tracheotomy to survive.
Despite challenges, doctors are hopeful that Gabriel can “thrive” at home
Dr Meaghan Ransom, part of Gabriel’s care team, said that caring for babies like Gabriel is one of the “greatest joys” of her line of work.
“Taking care of babies like Gabriel, who have developed chronic lung disease from their extreme prematurity, is one of the greatest challenges and one of the greatest joys in medicine”, she said. “We walk step by step with parents in navigating the decision for tracheostomy”.
Thanks to the care provided by the medical staff, baby Gabriel was able to go home from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after 350 days. Grateful that he is finally home, his mum, Caroline, said, “It’s overwhelming but in all of the best ways”.
Gabriel’s parents and his doctor are hopeful that he will be able to live without his tracheotomy one day. “We have a lot of hope that babies born early can grow and thrive, with lung development continuing through childhood”, Dr Ransom said.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It is inspiring to hear what a little fighter baby Gabriel is. It is great that he is continuing to improve at home, and that both his family and doctor are hopeful that he will continue to get better over time”.
