INDIANAPOLIS — Caiden Rogers is just 4 years old.
His infectious laugh fills just about anyone with joy.
"He talks all day long. He runs up and down the hallway all day long. He's doing perfect," his mom Shakilya Rogers said.
But Caiden's arrival was just the opposite.
"I did not make it to 26 weeks. He was born at 24 weeks and five days," Rogers said.
Rogers said during her 22-week ultrasound, doctors told her she was already two centimeters dilated.
Caiden was coming. Rogers went into surgery as doctors at IU North tried to prevent her from dilating even further.
"That only lasted about a week and a half to two weeks, and my water broke," Rogers said.
Caiden was born with chronic lung disease. He got so sick, he had to be transferred to the NICU at Riley Hospital for Children.
"They were giving us heads up, you know, we don't know if he's going to make it. We don't know if he's going to make it past the weekend," Rogers said.
But Caiden fought hard, spending six months at Riley.
He was on a ventilator, then later, a tracheostomy, G-tube and oxygen. It was a challenge for his grandmother Octavia McDade, who helped care for Caiden at home.
"The most challenging part of the fight was the training on the vent(ilator)," McDade said. "I was scared at first, but then, I just got comfortable with it."
Now, four years later, Caiden's mom says words cannot express how grateful she is to Riley nurses and doctors.
"If it wasn't for them Caiden would not have made it," Rogers said.
"Say 'I'm the miracle baby,'" McDade said as Caiden laughed in her arms.
For more information on the Riley Foundation, go to www.rileykids.org/.
Giving Tuesday
Riley Children’s Foundation is looking for 300 people to donate on Giving Tuesday — Dec. 1 — to ensure Indiana kids continue to have the best opportunity to overcome life-changing illness and injury.
The 300 donations will unlock an additional $30,000 in bonus gifts from corporate partners:
- 100 donations unlocks $5,000 from Faegre Drinker
- 200 donations unlocks $10,000 from Earthwave Technologies
- 300 donations unlocks $15,000 from Reagan Outdoor
The Indianapolis Colts will also be matching the first $150,000 in gifts made by individuals through Dec. 31.
Click here for more information and links to donate.