Little Cayden wasn’t a planned miracle. His mother, Amy Littlefield, didn’t even know she was pregnant. But when she woke up on the morning of September 14th, she realized that something wasn’t quite right.
“I woke up the morning of Sept. 14, his birthday, with lower abdomen pain,” Amy told CBS News. “I knew something was really wrong so I called my mom and said ‘Hey, I think I need to go to the hospital something’s happening.’ We have a family history of ovarian cysts rupturing after birth.”
She went to the walk-in emergency room at Swedish Medical Center, only to discover that it wasn’t a ruptured cyst causing her pain. Instead, she was in labor at just five months pregnant.
“I thought he was joking. I said, ‘No, no I’m not.’ I said, ‘I’m not pregnant.’”
But she was, in fact, in labor, and the center wasn’t equipped to handle such a premature birth. They called in an airlift crew to take Amy to the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, where her baby could be provided with the best possible treatment and placed directly into the NICU. Only she never quite made it because, by the time the airlift crew had arrived, Amy had already delivered.
“We weren’t quite prepared for what we were going to see when we walked in we thought we were taking care of just mom and didn’t get the information until we walked into the room. He was laying there screaming having a very difficult time breathing but the Swedish Southwest team did a great job keeping him warm and dry,” AirLife Flight Nurse, Jared Hedden, told CBS News, and though he’d been trained to handle preemies, Cayden’s size was initially concerning. “I think we estimated a little less than a pound when he first came out, somewhere around 700 grams so a heavy burrito would be an equivalent.”
Thankfully, the airlift crew managed to get little Cayden to the hospital where he’s received round-the-clock care in the NICU. Now he’s ready to return home – just in time for Christmas, and on the exact same day as his sister’s birthday.
“He’s dressed up, ready to get home, see Santa and be with his family. It’s just phenomenal how strong he’s not needing any assistance breathing or with his feeding or with medications. He’s here with his mom and getting ready to go enjoy the season with his family.”
Surrounded by family, Amy couldn’t be happier to have him at home, right where he belongs.
“He’s a fighter. He honestly is God’s greatest blessing to me. I’m just absolutely astounded by everything he has accomplished in his almost 3 months,” she said.
Amy also apparently learned that little surprises run in her family.
“My grandma didn’t know she was pregnant with my aunt until she was five months, my mother didn’t know she was pregnant with my brother until she was five months and I had Cayden at five months.”
