Bobby was born on February 12th, 2024, at 4:57 pm at Belleville General Hospital. He was born not breathing and experienced a seizure during his first hour of life. Due to this complication, he was rushed to the Kingston NICU just a few hours after birth. Since I had just given birth, I was unable to accompany him to Kingston and had to remain at the hospital in Belleville. My husband, Nick, followed Bobby’s ambulance to Kingston and was able to reunite with him after his initial tests were completed.
While Bobby was in the NICU, he was placed on a cooling protocol, where his body was kept at 33 degrees for 72 hours. Since we couldn’t hold him during this time, the first time we were able to hold Bobby was when he was four days old. Throughout the cooling protocol, his brain activity was closely monitored by a BrainZ monitor to ensure that no further seizures occurred, along with multiple rounds of blood work and other tests. Thankfully, he remained seizure-free. After the cooling protocol, Bobby underwent an MRI, ECG, EKG, along with several additional rounds of blood work and monitoring.
Throughout this challenging time, we couldn’t have asked for more love and support from the nurses and doctors. They were incredible at keeping us informed and helping us stay calm. They showed immense patience and care, always answering our questions without hesitation. During the nights when we couldn’t be with Bobby, the nurses sent us pictures and videos to keep us updated on his condition. They never made us feel bad for calling in the middle of the night for reassurance. On the night Bobby was being taken off the cooling protocol, his night nurse, knowing how stressed we were, provided extra videos and pictures of him throughout the night. The nurse who cared for Bobby most of his time in the NICU was nothing short of amazing, and words cannot express how grateful we are for her.
We will forever be thankful to the NICU nurses, doctors, and staff for making Bobby’s stay as positive as possible during such a stressful time for our family. The NICU cared for Bobby, allowing us to bring home our perfect baby boy.
To celebrate Bobby’s first birthday, we felt there was no better way than to host a fundraiser to give back to the incredible place that did so much for us and continues to make a difference every day. We kindly ask that, if you are able, please help us give back to the place that gave so much to our family. Thank you.