When Ruvi and Nash’s first child, Anotipa (Ano), was born prematurely at just 27 weeks and 4 days, he weighed only 1 pound 14 ounces.
He was born via an emergency C-section and was immediately taken to the IWK’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for advanced medical care and observation. While in NICU, Ano’s care team discovered something was wrong because he had just one bowel movement since being born a week earlier.
Ano was sent for an ultrasound, which showed an infection in his bowels. He was quickly given antibiotics to treat the infection, but unfortunately, they did not help. Sadly, Ano needed surgery to remove the infected bowel and received an ostomy (a surgical procedure to make a hole that allows stool or urine to leave the body through the belly).
Soon after the surgery, Ano needed another surgery to drain fluid build-up affecting his intestines. He also had to have 14 cm of his bowel removed.
Ano continued to be cared for by the NICU team until he was healthy enough to go home, almost four months after his birth.
Eventually, Ano returned to the IWK to have a third surgery to reverse the ostomy. He was also regularly followed by the perinatal follow-up program to monitor his growth and development for two years. Ano’s care team included a dietician, a psychologist and the eye clinic. Ruvi also meets with a social worker for ongoing support and guidance.
Ano, now four years old, was recently diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum and having global developmental delay. Children with global developmental delay can take longer to reach certain development milestones than other children their age. Ano and his parents continue to be supported by the IWK and meet with an occupational therapist every six weeks over Zoom.
“I always knew we were in the right place,” says Ruvi, Ano’s mom. “It was an emotional rollercoaster, but I am so glad we were at the IWK.”
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