BIXBY, Okla. — The saying "Home for the Holidays" has an extra special ring for one Bixby family in 2022.
The Holdens spent most of this year in Hillcrest Medical Center's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit when their son was born at just 22 weeks. It was a birth doctors said just a few years ago would not have even been possible.
Now baby snuggles on the sofa are a Christmas wish come true for the Holden family.
"It's really a special Christmas with everything we've been through," says mom Bradi Holden.
This past year, life took them on a journey they never saw coming. They met a team of medical professionals they now consider family and had a baby many call a miracle.
"Honestly, it was God's doing," says dad Darril Holden.
Their story began last Christmas when this family of three started sharing they'd be adding one more come June.
"It was a completely healthy pregnancy. Nothing out of the ordinary going on," Bradi says.
"I went to get checked up, and the doctor told me that my amniotic sac had ruptured. I was rushed to labor and delivery. I was crying, and I didn't know what was going on. And then they put me in an ambulance and sent me to Hillcrest."
Bradi did not deliver the baby that day. At just 21 weeks along, she was put on bed rest, where she'd stay for another week. She then met Dr. Stephanie Carner, the Medical Director of Hillcrest's NICU, for a tough conversation.
"I asked her if many 22-week babies go home, and she said some do, but many do not," says Bradi.
Just days later, the Holdens micro-preemie was born.
"He was 22 weeks and five days gestation. That was February 5th," Bradi says.
"It's definitely the youngest gestation I have had successfully graduate from the NICU," Dr. Stephanie Carner says. "We have had several born at 22 weeks, but the vast majority have passed away, unfortunately."
The tiny 1-pound, 7-ounce baby boy named Kai was a fighter.
"He was very critical, he was just so small, but he was so cute from the beginning," Reagan Robertson, one of the RNs who cared for Kai, says.
With a long road ahead, the NICU became the family's home away from home.
"There were a lot of sleepless nights spent next to his bedside managing his ventilator," Carner says.
"It doesn't matter how many days you are in the NICU when you first have to leave the hospital without your baby and leave him in the care of someone else; it's really, really difficult," Bradi says.
The staff quickly covered the family in love. "I always really focused on Bradi because she was so anxious all the time," says RN Stephanie Watkins.
"We didn't come to Hillcrest under the best circumstances, but we grew so close to the staff during this time," Darril said.
Days turned into weeks and then into months.
"We were largely in a territory we hadn't been in before. Kai was an exception to everything we had known and treated that I had done as a physician, everything the nurses had to care for," Carner said.
And this team not only cared for Kai, but they also marked each milestone. They created valentine's and Mother's day cards and even threw a baby shower.
"It was the whole unit that loved him and cared for him, and giving him that baby shower was the icing on the cake," Robertson said.
"It was a celebration of look how far he's come. And it was really special to us," says Bradi.
Kai is believed to have had the longest stay out of any baby in Hillcrest's NICU. And after 213 days, that's more than seven months; The Holdens were finally able to bring Kai home.
"One of the amazing things about Kai is that he's didn't only survive, but he's thriving in many ways. He missed most of the risks that come with being born at 22 weeks. Things like vision and hearing deficits, cerebral palsy, and things along those lines. So he is truly a miracle because of how well he is doing now," Carner said.
Kai is now ten months old and a healthy 15 pounds. While he still relies on oxygen, everyone is hopeful that won't be the case forever.
"I look at his rolls, and it makes me happy!" Carner said.
They say it takes a village to raise a family, and the Holdens are grateful for theirs. "We've witnessed people go above and beyond for us, and I'm just so thankful for that," says Bradi.
And as this family looks back on all that's happened since last Christmas, they know the best gift has already arrived this Christmas.
"God's been very faithful to bring us through it. We're very blessed," Darril says.
Positively Oklahoma last featured the nurses behind the NICU holiday photo shoots earlier this year, and Kai and Bradi were also in that story.
Learn more here.
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