Walker James Kooy

Walker James Kooy

Born Tuesday, October 19 (at 32 weeks)

3lbs 15oz

I was sitting on the couch with a heating pad on my belly to try to calm down my Braxton Hicks contractions. I had not felt well at all the night before and was unsure of whether the discomfort was from my kidney stones (which I got diagnosed with last week after an awful lot of pain and a stay in the hospital). I got up off the couch to help Easton and I knew something felt wrong, so I called my midwife right away. She told me to call an ambulance. When I got to the hospital in Newmarket (there was no time to make it to Mount Sinai as planned) at around 10:45am they hooked me up to machines and told me that the baby was doing well and that a team from Sick Kids hospital was on the way to me. They told me I had a placental abruption and they would need to deliver the baby by emergency c-section as soon as possible. At 11:34am Walker was born.

We heard him cry but they took him right away without us getting to see him. They told us he was doing well, all things considered. After fixing me up they brought me to the recovery room, and four hours later at around 3:30pm we were able to see him for the first time. He was in an isolette and hooked up to so many machines and tubes. We were not able to hold him but could see him and touch him a little bit.

After they explained how he was doing and answered all our questions, the team that had come here from Sick Kids Hospital to care for him took him by ambulance to Toronto. It was very hard for me to see him go and not be able to go with him as I had to stay in Newmarket for at least 36 hours to recover after my surgery.

Andrew followed the ambulance to Sick Kids and was able to be with Walker in the NICU there last night, and is there again this morning. We found out he will be having surgery on Thursday or Friday because he has an esophageal atresia/trachioesophageal fistula and therefore can’t eat. The cardiac specialists still need to look at him more to make a plan for what is next with his heart, but they were able to stop one of his heart medications this morning because he seemed stable. When I talked to Andrew last, they were doing ultrasound scans on most of Walker’s body to check on everything else. We will get a report on those ultrasounds by tomorrow morning hopefully.

The past 24 hours have been very hard. I am so thankful that Andrew is able to be in the NICU with Walker, but it is very difficult not being there myself. It’s hard to describe the feeling as a mother of giving birth to a baby, but then not having a baby with you. I want to be with him

Please pray for baby Walker and me and our family.

Pray that God will work miracles in Walker’s little body and that he will grow bigger and stronger every day. Pray for wisdom for the doctors, nurses, and surgeons that are caring for him. Pray for a successful surgery. Pray that he continues to be stable and they don’t find any new issues in his body. Pray for God’s protection over our sweet boy.

Pray that I heal quickly with no complications from my c-section or my kidney stones. Pray that my kidney stones don’t cause any problems until they can remove them, and that they can remove them soon so that I can stop worrying.

Please pray for our family. We miss Jordynn and Easton already and all of this is very hard for them, too. Pray for Andrew and I as we navigate these next days, weeks, and months. Pray for strength for us and for a continued peace that God is taking care of all of us.

Thank you for all your love and support.