“We expected a full pregnancy and a healthy baby,” said Carly Taylor. “It just wasn’t the way it went.”
After an emergency C-section on Dec. 4, Rylan Grey Taylor was born at 5:21 a.m. weighing two pounds and five ounces. He was two months premature and he wasn’t breathing.
Doctors successfully resuscitated the baby who has been in the neonatal intensive care unit in the Victoria General Hospital ever since.
Taylor and her husband, Andrew Veabin, who live in Courtenay, have been having a hard time making ends meet throughout the pregnancy. A number of unexpected bumps in the pregnancy and an extended stay in Victoria have left the couple without an income and struggling to get by.
“He’s our first child and he will be our only child,” said Taylor.
Taylor says the pregnancy did not go well from the beginning. Having been diagnosed with endometriosis, she was in and out of the hospital with severe morning sickness for the first six months. Taylor also has epilepsy and says she was having seizures throughout her whole pregnancy, twice causing her to be admitted into the ICU and put on life support.
Then, at 24 weeks, Taylor and Veabin learned the baby was not developing properly.
“The technician did her ultrasound and then she excused herself from the room and I knew right then and there that something was wrong with the baby,” said Taylor.
Doctors determined there was something wrong with Taylor’s placenta and the baby’s heart which slowed Rylan’s growth considerably. A couple of weeks after this discovery, Taylor began to go into premature labour and she remained in the hospital until at 31 weeks and one day, an emergency C-section was performed and Rylan was born.
Veabin was not able to be there for the C-section as he was in Courtenay where he was working, but he rushed down to Victoria as soon as he heard. Shortly after Rylan was born, Veabin lost his job because his employer said he had taken too much time off work.
“I need him here for emotional support and of course my son needs both of us here. I couldn’t do this without him,” said Taylor. “My husband was fired from his job because he took too much time off to be down here with us… I think that’s pretty ridiculous.”
Taylor was released from the hospital on Thursday while Rylan still remains in the NICU. She says he has been taken off breathing assistance, had his IV taken out and is now only on a feeding tube. Though they are still taking it day by day, Taylor says he is doing well.
Rylan is expected to stay in hospital until the end of January.
Taylor and Veabin have been living in an AirBnB close to the hospital thanks to You Are Not Alone (YANA), but being unable to work, Taylor says it’s been hard for the family.
“We’ve had some support from YANA, but without him being able to work, it’s been really tight,” said Taylor. “We barely have enough money to feed ourselves and put gas in the truck and it’s hard.”
Though they have applied for government assistance, Taylor says it takes time.
Taylor has started a GoFundMe page in hopes of garnering support for her family while Rylan remains in the hospital. The page can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/2QQUTF1
