Though not technically due until April 17, micro-preemie baby Dougie has already been in the world for the past three months, fighting for his life in the Vancouver Women含羞草研究社檚 Hospital neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Douglas 含羞草研究社淒ougie含羞草研究社� Mounce weighed just 2.2 pounds when he was born extremely early on Jan. 8 at just 25 weeks old to first time parents Julie Foster and Connor Mounce, embarking the new family on a stressful journey.
含羞草研究社淭here含羞草研究社檚 definitely been a lot of scary days, thankfully less of them now, but still moments here and there. He is doing really good, all things considered,含羞草研究社� Julie said, with Dougie now over four times his birth weight at 8lbs 11oz.
There is still a long road ahead, but it has finally led them a bit closer to home after spending the past three months at the hospital in Vancouver.
含羞草研究社淥n Saturday the stars finally aligned and we were flown to Kelowna to finish out the rest of our stay in the NICU here,含羞草研究社� Julie said in an April 8 Facebook post.
That puts them much closer to their families and support system as both grew up in Sicamous but recently moved to Tappen. Though the transfer to Kelowna is a positive step, she added that the past month had been particularly stressful on the 含羞草研究社減reemie rollercoaster,含羞草研究社� with Dougie experiencing a lot of bradycardia (low heart rate) and low oxygen levels in his blood.
Julie said now, however, he seems to be doing OK off oxygen, and they含羞草研究社檙e focusing on breastfeeding so they can remove the feeding tube.
含羞草研究社淲e are on step four of a 12-step plan, but we含羞草研究社檝e been stuck on this step for four days now so I don含羞草研究社檛 really know how long we expect it to take,含羞草研究社� she added. 含羞草研究社淚 sure wish I had a more concrete answer on what the next steps are, but one thing I含羞草研究社檝e learned through this is that things happen when they happen.含羞草研究社�
For the past three months, Julie and Connor含羞草研究社檚 time has been fully dedicated to Dougie, with both constantly at his side in hospital. Though the move to Kelowna has allowed them to each have a quick visit home while the other stays with the baby, they continue to be unable to work as they navigate this journey, so Connor含羞草研究社檚 sister Paige Mounce started a GoFundMe account to help cover costs and accumulating household bills.
The fund is currently at $4,876 of the $7,500 goal, but as there含羞草研究社檚 no estimated date Dougie will be released, they appreciate the continued support.
含羞草研究社淲e look forward to含羞草研究社� getting to go home and getting settled into our new life as a family of three,含羞草研究社� Julie said in Facebook post. 含羞草研究社淚 know Connor is looking forward to getting back to work on his business, but the reality is that just aren含羞草研究社檛 there quite yet.含羞草研究社�
Donations can be made on the GoFundMe website under , allowing them to focus on their little fighter.
含羞草研究社淗e is a tough little guy indeed,含羞草研究社� Julie said. 含羞草研究社淎nd we are so proud of him.含羞草研究社�
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