Child's Birth Year
2023

State/Province/Territory
California

NICU Hospital for my journey
Kaiser Fontana and Kaiser San Marcos

My NICU Graduate's Journey
Mom was admitted at 30 weeks due to preeclampsia. At 31 weeks on the night of 11-05-23 Royce’s heart rate started to drop rapidly and we went into an emergency c-section under general anesthesia. Royce started on a cpap machine and had three days of light therapy. Had to have two different IVs and a picc line throughout his first month of life. After the first few days to the start of our journey, Royce was able to consistently gain weight and hit so many milestones. On 12-1-23 he was then transferred from a level 3 NICU to a level 2. We thought he would be going home soon after, but then his Apnea and bradycardias sent him back on a breathing machine. During these spells he would need the nurses to stimulate him so he would wake up and remember to breathe again. As this happened Royce was then diagnosed with ASD. We couldn’t believe our baby boy was going through so much. It was the hardest few weeks of our life. As he gained weight and learned how to eat from a bottle, he got stronger and was able to limit his spells and come out of them on his own. He slowly weaned off the oxygen again and finally had the feeding tube removed on 12-22-23. This was his first picture with nothing on his face! Royce graduated on 12-23-23 just in time before Christmas where he finally got to meet the rest of his family!

What makes you proud of you NICU graduate?
Royce never stopped pushing and fighting. Even on the hard days where he would have multiple spells or shots or IVs, he would always put on a smile for his parents every time we walked into the room. All of the nurses absolutely loved him and told us how strong he was. That made us feel so proud, especially in real time moments like these when you feel so low and helpless. We couldn’t have gotten through this difficult time without them and Royce’s perseverance. We felt that every day he was hitting another milestone, just like he continues to do now. We are so proud of how far he has come in these six months of life. We know there is still a lot more to come with his ASD but after getting through this NICU journey he can get through anything. He is our little fighter.

Weight at Birth (lbs. or Grams)
2 lbs. 13 oz.

Weeks Gestation
31 Weeks

Time spent in the NICU (Specify Day, Month, or Year)
49 Days