Less than 11 inches long and weighing 435 grams — a little more than a can of soda — Kaio Abel Doxey entered the world 16 weeks before he was supposed to.

His eyes were sealed shut. His skin was red and shiny. His mother says he looked more like an alien than an infant.

Yet as tiny as baby Kaio was when he arrived, his determination has been bigger than just about anything you can imagine.

Kaio was supposed to be born Oct. 27 and his parents, Kaio and Jessica Doxey, along with his 2-year-old sister, Stella, were thrilled to welcome a boy into the family, EastIdahoNews.com reports.

But at the beginning of July, Jessica felt sick.

“I felt really unwell. I was seeing spots. I had preeclampsia with my first, so I recognized some of the similar symptoms,” Jessica recalls.

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication that causes high blood pressure, kidney damage and other health concerns. It can become very serious and affects about 5 percent of pregnant women in the United States, according to the World Health Organization.

Jessica’s doctors were concerned and she was immediately admitted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

“They told me to stay pregnant as long as I can. He was really small and his condition was very critical,” Jessica says.

The 26-year-old mother received a variety of treatments to help keep her and baby Kaio stable, but nothing worked. Her organs began to fail and on July 7, nearly four months before her original due date of Oct. 27, doctors said Kaio needed to be delivered immediately to give both mother and baby the best possible chance.

“It was overwhelming. I could possibly lose my wife, I could possibly lose my son, and trying to process everything that could happen was incredibly difficult,” Kaio Sr. remembers.

At 24 weeks pregnant, Jessica was rushed in for an emergency C-section. Doctors prepared the family for every possible outcome, and around 11 a.m., the Doxeys’ son quietly arrived.

“He looked so skinny and so tiny. It was really scary,” Jessica remembers.

Specialists immediately began caring for the tiny premature baby as other doctors treated Jessica.

Kaio Sr. prayed for his son.

“I saw him being passed through the window. He was placed in his isolette and they immediately began helping him breathe and stabilizing him,” Kaio Sr. says. “Once he was stable, Dr. Cheatham said, ‘Why don’t you come over and say hi.’ So I went over and got to hold his hand for a little bit.”

Dr. Wyc Cheatham was the neonatologist working at EIRMC the day Kaio was delivered. He knew the boy’s father was watching the medical team as they worked to stabilize his baby.

“At that point in time, you could just see that he was desperate for any kind of interaction with his baby,” Cheatham says. “You try to be aware of that, and you also try to stay focused on the baby’s needs. Everyone around understands that this is a significant moment in not just the baby’s life but the family’s life too.”

The Doxeys were told that if baby Kaio could make it through the first 72 hours, his chances of long-term recovery would improve dramatically.

“Kaio (Sr.) and I basically counted every hour for those first few days, and we felt every hour because it was really scary,” Jessica says.

Cheatham says babies born this early often aren’t born with major medical issues, but the constant challenge of growing outside the womb can place tremendous stress on their tiny bodies.

“The big concern in babies born that early is they can experience complications that may lead to long-term disabilities — including brain injuries, heart conditions and other health challenges,” Cheatham says.

When he was a few days old, Kaio developed an infection that deeply concerned both his parents and doctors. Thankfully, he responded well to treatment, and on day eight, his mother was finally able to hold him. A few days later, it was daddy’s turn.

“It was such an amazing feeling to finally be able to hold our baby,” Jessica says. “They put him right on my chest, and he was just so small.”

Around 8 percent of babies born in Idaho are premature, according to the March of Dimes. That’s lower than the national average of 9.6 percent.

Newborns born at 23 weeks or earlier face extremely difficult odds, but nearly 90 percent of babies born after 24 weeks continue to grow and recover, Cheatham says.

“I would say that we have half a dozen 24 weeks-and-under born every year (at EIRMC), and maybe one or two 23 weeks-and-under,” Dr. Cheatham says. “We’re the only hospital in eastern Idaho that cares for babies this small.”

The Doxeys visit the hospital every day and spend time with Kaio in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. They’ve documented important milestones — putting on his first diaper, giving his first bath, watching him open his tiny eyes and hearing him cry for the first time.

“The nurse showed me the signs that he was crying and feeling discomfort,” Jessica says. “It’s really hard to watch your baby uncomfortable and not be able to comfort him.”

Jessica and Kaio Sr. say it has helped to have a hospital close to home, and they’ve been incredibly grateful for the care they’ve received at EIRMC. They’re thankful they didn’t have to travel to Salt Lake City or Boise for Kaio’s treatment.

“The nurses here have worked with so many tiny babies and micro-preemies that they’re incredibly experienced,” Jessica says. “You can see how much the doctors care. When we’re here at 2 a.m., you see the doctor walking around at 2 a.m. too.”

Baby Kaio continues to make encouraging progress, even though he should still be inside his mother’s womb for another nine weeks.

If all goes as planned, he’ll gradually come off his medical support and continue growing into a healthy little boy who should be able to go home around Halloween.

“You need some kind of fight in you to keep going,” Kaio Sr. says. “I’ve never experienced anything close to what he’s experiencing, and I’m hoping he won’t have to remember any of this. He’s faced so many challenges just to take every breath, and the fact that he keeps going shows what an incredible little fighter he is.”

Source: KSL