There weren\u2019t supposed to be any surprises the day Brandon Ridgeway was born. He was supposed to be a full-term infant delivered via a scheduled Caesarean section, just a week before his due date.<\/p>\n
His mom and dad, Mindy and Brad, knew they were having a son and knew the drill, since they had Brandon\u2019s big sister delivered via C-section a couple of years earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had no idea anything was wrong until he was born,\u201d Mindy says. \u201cAnd then as soon as he came out we instantly knew something was wrong. He was gasping. It just wasn\u2019t normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite being considered full-term by the calendar and weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces, Brandon\u2019s lungs weren\u2019t fully developed when he was born at a hospital in Silverdale. His pediatrician quickly determined that if little Brandon were to survive, he needed more intensive facilities than the Silverdale hospital could provide.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just remember them saying they weren\u2019t equipped to handle this kind of issue,\u201d Brad says.<\/p>\n
A specially outfitted ambulance with a full crew was dispatched from MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital\u2019s level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t get to see him at all,\u201d Mindy says. \u201cWe begged the ambulance crew to let me say goodbye to him. They wheeled him in for a second on his way to the ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recovering from her surgery, Mindy could not go with, but she ordered Brad to follow the ambulance. The drive was a blur.<\/p>\n
Soon after Brad arrived at Tacoma General, a nurse brought him in to see Bran.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy then he had tubes and wires everywhere,\u201d Brad says. \u201cThat was a shock.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheer scope of the NICU was overwhelming, he recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I sat down in a chair and was staring at him forever,\u201d Brad says. \u201cI know one of the nurses was talking to me, but I wasn\u2019t sure what she was saying until she handed me Bran and let me hold him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the next few days, while his wife remained hospitalized in Silverdale and his 2-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son were with grandparents, Brad felt torn.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea where I should be,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I knew I needed to be with him because he had no one. I was the only one there for Bran.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mindy wasn\u2019t just depending on Brad for updates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day he got to Tacoma General a nurse called me on my cell phone,\u201d Mindy says. \u201cShe totally went out of her way to call and update me and make me feel better. I wish I had her name so I could thank her.\u00a0Throughout my stay at the hospital she called me every day. She didn\u2019t have to. She just did it because she\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the fourth night of her hospitalization, Mindy was able to convince a doctor to release her and she was finally able to see Bran again. Like Brad, she was shocked by the feeding tubes, a respirator and many wires and monitors attached to the newborn \u2014 but grateful they were keeping him alive.<\/p>\n
Bran remained in the NICU for close to a month while his lungs developed. Nurses also worked with Brad and Mindy to assure them Brandon was going to be OK in their care at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey let us give him his first bath at least a couple weeks in,\u201d Brad says.<\/p>\n
At the time, Brad was afraid to even touch his son. But the nurse was insistent that he be the one to give Bran a bath, and he\u2019s grateful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember looking at the nurse and saying, \u2018Are you sure you don\u2019t want to do this?\u2019 She said, \u2018He\u2019s your third. You got this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, when the time came to remove all the monitors and take him home, Brad and Mindy were worried.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew the doctors were fantastic and they said he was good enough to go but I was just terrified to take him home,\u201d Mindy recalls. \u201cI wanted to, I was excited to, but I was so afraid he would stop breathing. I was terrified to go to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Bran is a healthy, active 10-year-old who plays on a MultiCare-sponsored soccer team. His parents appreciate seeing MultiCare emblazoned on his uniform.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s alive because of Tacoma General,\u201d Mindy says. \u201cWe\u2019re very thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cause of Bran\u2019s underdeveloped lungs is still a mystery, she adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless the doctors were wrong on how far along I was,\u201d Mindy says. \u201cThey just weren\u2019t developed, and nobody was expecting that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a surprise that has her recommending Tacoma General to expectant mothers today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis girl I work with was pregnant and she was trying to figure out where to have her baby,\u201d Mindy says. \u201cShe was looking for places that had more luxurious rooms with bigger TVs. I said, \u2018That\u2019s not what you want. You want Tacoma General because if something goes wrong, that\u2019s where you want to be.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite being considered full-term by the calendar and weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces, Brandon\u2019s lungs weren\u2019t fully developed when he was born.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":315,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kids-health"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n