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23-year-old mother Marissa Mondragen was thrilled to be carrying her second child in what, for 20 weeks, been a completely healthy pregnancy.
During the 20-week Down’s syndrome scan, however, Mondragen’s doctors discovered that her son – Rayden – was being starved of oxygen. Rayden was already a fairly small child, but to make matters worse, there was a high level of spinal fluid with him and he wasn’t receiving enough oxygen to properly develop.
Mondragen’s doctors first thought was to administer steroids on Rayden’s lungs to help stimulate them, but after two weeks, nothing had improved. Rayden wasn’t receiving enough oxygen or nutrition through his mother’s placenta.
At that point, the doctors feared that Rayden would die inside his mother’s womb. There were no other options but to perform an emergency C-section to save his life.
Marissa was initially resistant. “I would feel him kick at night and he was felt perfectly fine,” she explained. “But I didn't want to risk his chances.”
When Rayden was born, he was just 25 weeks old. He measured in at 10.5 inches and weighed 14 ounces.
His parents weren’t allowed to interact with him or hold him for several weeks because everything about his body was so feeble. His lungs were severely undeveloped, and his digestive system wasn’t working properly yet.
Rayden was so small that his father, Robert, was able to slip his wedding ring over Rayden’s leg.
It was finally on October 15 that Marissa was able to hold her son against her chest. “It was a really scary time, because he was so small,” she recalled, but Rayden’s health has begun to stabilize.
His doctors hesitate to say what Rayden’s future will hold because he’s still so young, and still so small, but “everyday he surprises [them].”
The family is looking forward to the day when they can all return and reunite at home and are now seeking donations from people online for Rayden’s medical bills. Please donate and help this family if you can.
