BEAUMONT, Texas — Health officials at Baptist Hospitals hope the years of work they have put in will make it easier for new parents whose children require intensive care.
When Vidor native Julian Vandevender and his wife welcomed their little girl into the world, the journey was long. Their baby girl, Lorelei, was born at 33 weeks and six days.
“If you had shown me a picture of my baby six months ago, I would have said this is not my baby,” Vandevender said. “I’m very proud of the progress she’s made and appreciative of Baptist Hospital.”
Lorelei was born with a incurable genetic condition.
“Epidermolysis bullosa, it's a rare genetic condition that the layers of the skin aren't connected and so they blister very easily,” Vandevender said. "She was all bandaged up. She was on a little neonatal c-pap machine, and it was really scary for sure to see my baby like that."
When Lorelei was born, Baptist Hospitals did not have a level three NICU to care for her. She was transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.
The one hour and 40 minute drive was one that was filled with terror and uncertainty for the new father.
“I would drive out three to four times a week just depending on how I could rearrange my schedule for that week,” Vandevender said. “That drive to Houston as a new parent, where you're not sure what's going on with your baby, that's a lot of thinking time.”
Vandevender’s daughter spent four weeks in a level four NICU and one week in a level two NICU. Lorelei’s parents said she herself was ready to go home.
“In the middle of the night, she pulled out the NG tube on her own and we all kind of laughed about it because we're like alright well even she's done she's ready to go,” Vandevender said.
Now that Baptist Hospitals is a level three neonatal intensive care unit, health officials hope this story will not be the same for other families. Hospital officials spent three years gathering evidence to make this possible.
“When the state comes in, we show them this is how we're doing things, and they finally came through and approved us for level 3,” Dr. Doshi, Baptist Hospitals neonatal medical director, said.
Level three NICUs offer 24-hour care and pediatric medical subspecialties, like respiratory and life support.
“So, you can take care of a baby as little as one pound to a full-size baby. We can provide that care,” Dr. Doshi said.
Baptists Hospitals health officials hope the new achievement will keep families closer to home.