The Axlund Family

Cromwell, MN
$6,891.09 raised of $6,891.09
Mortgage/Rent $6,891.09
100%
3 months
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    Name
    Braven Axlund
    Injury/Illness
    Respiratory Disease

    Our Brave one started to shake up our life at 26 weeks of pregnancy. My water broke at home and I spent 2 months in the hospital on bed rest. From that point on, he has done nothing but keep us on our toes! At 35 weeks, we delivered in Duluth MN and he was immediately rushed to the NICU. He received great care there and we were expecting to be home to celebrate Thanksgiving together as a family of 5. His brothers were so anxious to meet him and have us all home together. But Braven had other plans. During an ENT scope, they found some issues with his vocal cords and this prompted him to be transferred to the NICU at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. This is over 2 hours from our home and we had to quickly adapt to a family divided, again. Since his transfer to Children's, he has had countless X-rays, MRI and CT scans, Scopes, bronchoscopies, multiple surgeries, and so much more I can't even keep track of. He has been a brave little warrior through the whole journey. We did end up being discharged in February but unfortunately ended up back at the hospital and transported once again to Children's after 3 short weeks home. His surgery date has been moved up and the surgery is anticipated to repair and resolve multiple issues in his airway (hopefully without the need for a trach). 

    Even with the surgery, he will still not be able to come home and start daycare right away which has led to me being here with him or at home with our boys on weekends, all without pay. We are looking for any generosity in donations to help pay our monthly bills for a couple of months as I will be returning to work as soon as Braven is ready to go to daycare. 

    This has been long 7 month journey for us and we are very much looking forward to being together again for longer than 3 weeks! Our boys miss their brother and I miss them so much! 

     

    June 24, 2021
    Braven is home!

    Wow, what a journey it has been! I honestly had put this whole process on the back burner and recently received an update that we had generous donations towards our campaign goals! So with that in mind, I wanted to share an update on our sweet little warrior! Braven was able to come home on his half birthday! We came home with even more equipment than last time as his oxygen needs have increased and he is on continuous oxygen. But this has been an easy transition to make and hasn't been too inconvenient! It has been a little more of a challenge as we have different appointments to go to and it adds another layer of chaos to getting out the door to get somewhere on time. Ha ha, like that happens...

    It has been amaizng to be home with our whole family finally back together again! Big brothers are showering their little brother with so many hugs and kisses. It warms my Mama heart to see them so excited to see him every evening. 

    The first big milestone since we have been home was Braven's brochoscopy and subsequent swallow study that was done in May. To say we were nervous was an understatement. The bronchoscopy was done to check on the state of his laryngeal cleft repair and to see what the surgical site looked like. The big question was if it held up and functioned better than before. If his repair was in tact, he would get a swallow study to see if he could begin eating by mouth! So exciting to think about not needing a feeding bag and pump everywhere we go! Well, after a very early morning with a 7am check in time (we live over 2 hours away), we got the wonderful news that his repair has held up and looks good! With this news, we were able to move ahead with the swallow study the next day which I was just as excited for. Not being able to hold and nurse your baby, heck, even bottle your baby was a hard reality to come to terms with. This was my hope that I would possibly get to salvage some of that and be able to bottle feed my baby for even a few months. But alas, Braven did not pass the "thins" portion of the swallow study so no bottles for him yet. He was given the green light to move on to eating purees which is something "normal" for our 7 month old. We will take what we can get! 

    We have slowly been adjusting to our new normal and slowly introducing our sweet baby boy to grandparents and other family. Such an odd time to have a baby in a pandemic! 

    Again, thank you to all of the generous donors for supporting our family in this transition and helping to relieve some of the stress and tension financially for our family. We are so so thankful for these gifts that have been given to our family.