Meet Stella
Kristel was just 11 weeks pregnant when she was told her baby would be born with gastroschisis. Gastroschisis is a birth defect where a hole in the abdominal (belly) wall beside the belly button allows the baby’s intestines to extend outside of the baby’s body. This created a stressful pregnancy and at her 35 week check-up, there was decreased fetal movement and Kristel underwent an emergency C-section.
Stella was born with her intestines and part of her stomach outside of her body. Fortunately, the doctor was able to to put her intestines and stomach back into her body during the 1-hour surgery. Stella was not out of the woods. She had trouble tolerating her feeds and her stomach was not contracting. She was given medicine to help her stomach contract but she still could not eat more than a teaspoon of milk. She was given a nasojejunal (NJ) tube which is a thin, soft tube that is put in through the nose, goes through the stomach and ends in the jejunum (jue-joo-num), a part of the small intestine. This would give her stomach time to heal.
Kristel and her husband live an hour from the hospital. They spent every single day by Stella’s side for 3 months until she was finally able to tolerate her feeds and began to gain weight. Stella recently had the NJ tube removed and is able to feed orally. She will continue to be followed by the pediatric specialist but is now home with. her loving family.
Hearts Aligned helped with groceries and gas cards and will continue to work with the family.
We are receiving many referrals from our medical partners , we can help many more children that have a difficult path, like Stella with your help.
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