A local family’s fears for their prematurely born infant have eased with his release from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Vancouver Children’s Hospital and his return to Revelstoke.
Marla Manson said her grandson, Maxwell was three months and one week premature when he was born at Queen Victoria Hospital on July 1.
“He weighed roughly 2 lbs. and was 13 inches long,” she said last weekend. “He was sent by air ambulance along with his mom (Marlene Manson) to Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.”
Marla said her son, Shawn, took a leave from his mechanical job with the City of Revelstoke and drove to Vancouver to be with his wife and their newborn. He was followed two weeks later by their daughter Mya.
“They spent their days at the NIC Unit at Children’s Hospital and the nights at Easter Seal House,” Marla said. “Baby Max was on a ventilator machine, heart monitor, blood pressure monitor and a feeding tube plus many other machines. Slowly with all the professional help and prayers from friends and family Max began to grow. He had some difficulty when feeding and had to learn how to eat and breathe in sync. This took a great amount of time and it was very scary to watch him stop breathing, hearing bells going off, watching his oxygen level dip for a few seconds before he would breathe again.”
After 107 days away the family returned home to Revelstoke.
“Maxwell now weighs about 9 lbs and is doing well,” Marla said. “This was a very stressful time for the family and now everyone can get back to normal. He’s a strong little boy.”
