Bost, Kailyn Brooke

[left:7c37e0f03a]http://www.cherubs-cdh.org/Album/new/bost-kailyn2.jpg[/left:7c37e0f03a]This is Kailyn Brooke. She is 14 months old. She was born January 3, 2001 by C-section, full-term, weighing 8 lbs. 2oz. Kailyn let out one beautiful cry when she was born, then the room became silent. We didn't hear her voice for another 3 1/2 weeks. Our first-born baby had an undiagnosed left-sided CDH.

Kailyn was rushed to Children's Hospital, and I was left to recover from the C-section with only Polaroids of our new baby. I was lucky to get an early release from the hospital 36 hours after the C-section. I had to see our baby and be by her side. Kailyn had surgery when she was 4 days old. Her diaphragm was able to be closed with sutures only. Her stomach, spleen, and intestines were in her left chest cavity and her mediastinum was pushed to the right. She had a very small bud of lung in the left and almost a full right lung. Her appendix was also removed. She was on the ventilator for 24 days with 5 of those days on an oscillating ventilator. Then she was on CPAP for 6 days. Kailyn was on oxygen a total of 33 days and came home after a long 41 days.

After she came home, she spent 7 weeks on the NJ and NG tubes, then went straight to the bottle with hardly any reflux problems at all. My husband and I spent a great deal of time offering Kailyn the bottle and pacifier early on to prevent oral aversion. We would encourage her and get so excited when she would take just a couple cc's of milk! She worked her way up to 4 oz. pretty quickly. I do believe this was a very important step in Kailyn's development.

Today Kailyn is a typical 1 year old with no feeding or developmental problems at all. She is such a smart, active little girl with a lot of determination and a huge heart. Thanks so much to all the wonderful people at Mercy and Children's Hospitals in Cincinnati for their compassion and expertise, and for diagnosing Kailyn's condition quickly. Also, thanks to our family and friends for all their support and prayers. Our hearts and prayers to all the families of cherubs.



Written by Kailyn's parents, Holly & Brian Bost (Ohio)
2002