Four years after the birth of her son Nolan, Roshaine Jackson had been praying for another baby and this year that prayer was answered when she became pregnant with daughter Gia.
However, pregnancy complications last month have left Jackson and her husband Michael Delaney praying for a miracle as Gia fights for her life at the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami.
“Gia is our saving grace right now. All of our attention is on her, and we’re just trying to do everything possible to make sure that we can provide for her,” Delaney told the Cayman Compass via Facebook messenger from his room in Miami.
Born prematurely at almost 25 weeks, Gia was taken by air ambulance from Cayman to Miami for medical support.
She remains in intensive care at the hospital where she is on ventilators.
The Caymanian couple started a GoFundMe campaign to help offset the medical and living expenses they are incurring in the US, as their baby is expected to remain in hospital until February.
Their medical insurance is covering some of the costs.
They have set a goal of US$15,000. As of Thursday they had already raised more than $7,000.
“We [are] just so grateful and so thankful for the support that we’ve been getting,” Jackson said.
Early birth unexpected
“There were no previous indications of me going into pre-term labour,” Jackson said, so when she started feeling pain six months into her pregnancy she did not realise she was in labour.
She thought the pain may be related to a hematoma, a kind of blood clot, which she developed on her uterus early in her pregnancy.
“I was bleeding every day for the six months that I was pregnant and there was nothing the doctors could do about it. It was something that had to heal itself and it never did. “It went on to the point where I gave birth, so that caused me to be anaemic,” Jackson said.
“I suffered with that [pain] for about an hour before I called my doctor,” who told her to go to the hospital where he met her and told her she was in labour.
“They did try to stop the labour, but it was already too late,” she said.
“On 14 Oct., Gia was born prematurely and while it was amazing to witness, it was also very frightening at the same time because of the inflammation, complications and possible birth defects that she might have,” Delaney said.
Baby Gia making progress
“Her due date was January 28,” Delaney said, adding that the doctors had told them that their baby had a slim chance of survival because she was born so early. But Gia has been a “rock star”, he said, as the tiny child fights against the odds. For the first two weeks, following her birth, he said, “she was amazing”.
“She was our star baby. That is what the nurses called her. She basically was breathing on her own without any assistance. So we’re super proud of her with that,” he said.
However, as the days have gone by, he said, the family has become more aware of what can happen to Gia, as she remains in a fragile state.
“She also displayed all kinds of signs of activity, so that was good. She was moving around a lot; you know, sometimes with preemies, you don’t really see that,” Delaney said, but added that very premature children are susceptible to lung issues.
Gia has been diagnosed with chronic lung disease and has a collapsed lung. She was put in an incubator and is on two ventilators to assist her with breathing.
“One ventilator does short breaths and the other ventilator does long breaths, and both of them are working simultaneously to keep her going, and so far so good. She’s stable,” her dad said.
Jackson said Gia caused a scare at the hospital when she accidentally disconnected one of her breathing tubes, sending off an alarm.
“She sent the nurses frantic,” Jackson laughed, saying baby Gia is moving around more and grabbing things, which is a positive sign.
Delaney lauded the medical teams in Cayman and Miami for their dedication and assistance with his daughter.
| To get involved, contact Delaney on WhatsApp 345-938-4383.
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