TINIEST WARRIOR THE
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by Jean Eisenmann | new born photo courtesy of Javier Pedroche, baby in onesie photo courtesy of Kyra Minnis, photo of family courtesy of Kay Simpkins
here’s no denying that Nikolas Javier Pedroche is an adorable baby boy. His smile can melt your heart unless those big eyes grab you first. He’s a happy, growing child, and this month he turned a year old. Nikolas also happens to be a miracle baby.
to this day, has left Nikolas unable to roll
At 8:05 a.m. on March 9th, 2020, Nikolas
the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for
The right side of his brain has completely
of his parents, Kyra Minnis and Javier
any permanent intestinal damage, so his
body. Consequently, he doesn’t use his
be over.
though his left leg functions normally.
was brought into the world and the lives Pedroche. He was a breech baby, born
at 24 weeks. Just 12-inches long, he only weighed 1 lb. 14 oz.
“When we first saw him, Nikolas was covered in cords, hooked up to a
breathing tube, chest tube, feeding tube, and an IV,” Kyra said. His daily struggle to live had begun.
The newborn was stable for five days,
then began another struggle. Doctors
discovered bile in his stomach and gave him a 20% chance to live. Emergency surgery revealed NEC, an intestinal disease among premature babies.
over or sit up on his own.
Fast forward to the present time, and you’ll find that his health remains compromised.
151 days. The long ordeal didn’t result in
died, which affects the left side of his
parents hoped the nightmare would
left arm at all and leaves it at his side,
While in the hospital, his health issues
continued. He developed a staph infection in his right eye, causing him to code (to stop breathing with no pulse) several times.
“His eye swelled so badly that it caused a
lack of blood flow to his brain, and he had
To aid in his overall mobility, Nikolas is
currently undergoing physical therapy.
Then, there’s speech therapy to assist him with learning to eat. And the little tyke
soon will begin occupational therapy to focus on that left arm and hand.
Nikolas has endured two more stays in
a stroke,” Kyra explained.
the hospital since being brought home
Nikolas finally left the hospital’s NICU unit
medications for the seizures haven’t
on August 7th, and for the first time since his March birth, the little one went home.
on that August day. Sadly, his current
been effective, so doctors plan to start
him on a ketogenic diet that in medicine
Translated, tiny Nikolas had a hole in
But his journey wasn’t over quite yet.
is used to treat hard-to-control epilepsy
his stomach. Ultimately, he had four
month when he began having infantile
another hospital stay for the boy, this
his intestine that was spilling waste into surgeries to combat the NEC and was in 22 | LAKE CITIES LIVING | MARCH 2021
Adversity struck again the following
in children. This, too, will necessitate
spasms, a complex seizure disorder which,
time for one week, to monitor his blood www.LiveLocalMagazines.com
