Meet Canaan

Any baby born before the 28th week of pregnancy is considered extremely premature, but babies born between 21 and 23 weeks are even more fragile. Their organs are still developing. They are vulnerable to infection. They often need a feeding tube.

But with the right care, they can not only survive – but thrive.

Morgan and Tommy, Canaan’s parents, already knew that he would be born prematurely. At Morgan’s 22-week appointment, her doctors discovered her water had broken and sent her to Riverside Methodist Hospital, hoping that her pregnancy would last a little longer. After a few days, on the evening of February 28, Morgan began to have back pain but wasn’t dilated. By 2:30 a.m. on March 1, she was eight centimeters dilated. Morgan was rushed away for an emergency C-section while Tommy waited anxiously in a recovery room.

When the new parents got to see their baby boy, he was unbelievably tiny – “smaller than a plastic water bottle,” Morgan says, with arms thinner than her index finger – and weighed in at one pound, two ounces. His eyes were still fused shut and his skin was red. His lungs had developed just enough for him to survive outside of the womb, but he still needed to be intubated for a month, then placed on a CPAP machine.

At six weeks, he was referred to Nationwide Children’s Hospital Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for additional care. He received surgery for bilaterial inguinal hernias and an umbilical hernia and ROP laser surgery to correct his premature retinas. In his first month, he was diagnosed with MRSA and CMV. But Canaan is resilient, just like his parents.

Despite living 45 minutes away from the hospital, Morgan and Tommy came to the NICU every single day. Both parents work in the medical field, so they understood what was happening and wanted to weigh in on Canaan’s care. The Nationwide Children’s Hospital NICU team made sure they had a voice.

“NICU nurses are absolute blessings,” Tommy says. “The care wasn’t just taking his vitals or giving his meds or monitoring him. They made a scrapbook of pictures of him for us.” Morgan and Tommy struggled to leave the hospital at the end of the day. “But it was comforting knowing that the nurses would take care of him like he was their own kid,” Tommy says.

Finally, after 173 days in the NICU, Canaan came home.

Today, Canaan receives supportive oxygen through a nasal cannula and has monthly appointments with the Comprehensive Center for Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia. Otherwise, he is meeting the expected milestones for his adjusted age. He is now over 13 pounds and has a feisty personality. “He’s proven since day one that he is a little fighter,” Morgan says. “He will tell you how he feels.”

When you give to Light Up the Lawn, Light Up a Life, you help patients like Canaan survive, thrive and grow up strong.