March of Dimes Ambassador Child - Braelyn Tucker

August 26, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Rebecca Winter,
Crittenden Regional Hospital
870.735.1500

Braelyn Makhi Tucker was born via emergency C-Section on November 5, 2007. At only 25 weeks and severely growth restricted, we were given a 0% chance of survival inside or outside the womb by doctors in Memphis. Because of the potential laundry list of problems that a baby that early and that small would face, they determined that no life saving intervention should take place. Dr. Robert Chin was determined to give Christy’s son a chance and sent the family to UAMS in Little Rock where he was brought into this world weighing a mere 12.5 ounces and only 10 inches long.
With his eyes and ears fused shut and with a single layer of skin to protect his very visible organs, Braelyn’s struggle to survive would begin. He would spend months on the ventilator and would have numerous infusions and transfusion of blood and medicine in order to get him thru this difficult time. Our NICU stay was one of tremendous ups and downs, with tears of joy and sorrow shed almost daily, sometimes within minutes of each other. With the Staff at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the March of Dimes, countless prayers, as well as the will and strength of this incredible little boy, Braelyn would survive! The staff at UAMS said that Braelyn was the only documented preemie born under 400 grams that made it through the critical 14 days without having a single brain bleed. Brain bleeds are the leading cause of various developmental and physical handicaps suffered by preemies. In-fact, Braelyn would never suffer a brain bleed. He underwent heart surgery at 22 days, hernia surgery, gastrostomy placement and various other procedures during his stay, but continued to grow strong and prove that he did have a chance.

Despite the odds, Braelyn indeed survived and after 6 months, 5 days, 7 hours and 41 minutes we were able to walk out of Children’s Hospital with our little miracle in tow finally heading home. Once home Braelyn continued to do well. He left Children’s Hospital on litered oxygen and pulse ox monitoring, which as of July 5 was weaned from both day and night. Two weeks after coming home, Braelyn suffered a right eye hemorrhage which left him temporarily blind. Although tremendously scary, he recovered and all indications are that he has not suffered any permanent damage.

Braelyn is officially the smallest baby to date to have survived in the state of Arkansas. He is listed as the 38th smallest infant and the 9th smallest male in the world to survive. This is published in the Tiniest Baby Registry managed by Edward Bell, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, at the University of Iowa. What is even more remarkable is that Braelyn not only survived but does not appear to have any of the neurological, visual or hearing disabilities suffered by most babies born at such a low birth weight.

Braelyn continues to thrive at home and at 21 months is full of life and today weighs in at a whopping 16 lbs 10 ounces. He is still a squirt by all accounts and has earned himself the nickname “peanut”. He started crawling at 13 months and just started walking over the past few weeks. Each day his steps take him farther and farther from his starting point. He climbs on anything he can get a grip and has started to increase his vocabulary skills. Good Communications has provided Braelyn with excellent therapy in assisting him with his developmental goals. We still face issues with eating and are significantly behind developmentally compared to full term 21 month olds, but there is no doubt in our minds and the minds of the professionals that follow his progress, he will catch up. Braelyn starts school in July at Steudlein Learning Academy in West Memphis and we are very excited to witness his continued progress.

We had been told so many things that could have been and some that probably should have been when dealing with a micro-preemie, but Braelyn showed us all that miracles do happen. The next time you raise that can of soda to take a sip, think about Braelyn, for that is exactly what he weighed at birth. With outstanding pediatric care and because of organizations like the March of Dimes the IMPOSSIBLE IS NOW POSSIBLE. We are honored to share Braelyn’s story and we are truly grateful that it is thru the March of Dimes forum his story can be heard.