A lifeline for Jayden

I am having a semi-sleepless night tonight. It's 4:45 a.m. and I have been up for a couple of hours now surfing the Internet, responding to emails, posting links on Facebook ... nothing of any real value ... except perhaps one of the FB postings about Jayden, a baby born at 31 weeks addicted to cocaine and alcohol, with congenital syphilis. This precious little one had no skin on the palms of her hands or the skin of her feet and had to undergo painful skin grafts. Plus, little Jayden was blind and deaf at birth.

When she was released from the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), Jayden was sent home with her foster mother to die. The doctors and nurses had no hope for this child, who was insulin dependant and on oxygen 24 hours a day. Additionally, it was eventually discovered that Jayden bears the distinction of being one of 18 people in the U.S. who was born without a pancreas. To further complicate things for this tenacious little soul, she could not tolerate formula of any kind!

Jayden's foster mother knew breastmilk was the answer for this tiny baby, but the state wouldn't pay for banked milk because Jayden was a MEDICAID baby and the breastmilk was expensive.

That's where you come in. Jayden lives in SE Michigan and is in desperate need of breastmilk. There are drop-off locations across this section of the state. If you know anyone in this area who is nursing, or perhaps has recently weaned her child and might have a supply of milk still stored in her freezer, please pass on this information.

As it turns out, breastmilk saved Jayden's life. With so many strikes against her, one thing Jayden does have going for her is her astonishing will to live! So astonishing, in fact, that she is now 17-months-old and weighs 17 pounds! And here's what she's doing these days:

• crawling
• sitting up by herself
• standing on her own
• creeping onto things

She is also enjoying all the sights and sounds around her, because both her vision and hearing were restored. How is that possible? Through the power of donated breastmilk! Breastmilk has been her lifeline from the very first bottle. Her pediatrician explained that when someone is actively dying, their brain shuts off all "non-essential functions"... seeing and hearing in Jayden's case. As she began to actively live, her blindness and deafness vanished. What has not vanished, however, is her extreme food allergies. Breastmilk is the only thing Jayden can tolerate.

Had it not been for the wisdom, tenacity and love of her foster mom, Jayden's story would have ended in a tiny casket. While I generally give out Greeny Awards, in this case I believe a Hero Citation is in order. Let's hear it for this foster mom ... and for all the moms out there who are willing to keep the lifeline going for little Jayden. You are all a blessing!

You can read more of this amazing story by visiting Milk for Jayden.

Keeping you informed,

Hana