A very special birthday

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- There was a time when Rachel and Wade Kreis thought their son Noah wasn't going to make it home.

Those were the first few months after Noah was born prematurely a year ago today, weighing one pound, 10 ounces.

But now, one year after the fact, Rachel and Wade are busy with their son and are celebrating his first year of life today.

Rachel, 23, and Wade, 26, were married two and a half years ago in Wisconsin. Noah is their first child.

It was one year ago that Rachel first went to the New Ulm Medical Center Clinic for a checkup five months after she first became pregnant. Rachel went into labor early.

Rachel was flown to Abbot-Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis from New Ulm Medical Center, where Noah was born. Noah was later transferred to Children's Hospital in St. Paul, the only hospital in Minnesota that specializes in caring for babies that are as small as Noah once was.

During the next three months, Noah lay in an incubator to maintain a normal body temperature with intravenous feeding tubes giving him fluids and nutrients and sensors taped to his chest to monitor his heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and temperature.

Dr. Marc Burkhart, an obstetrician-gynecologist at New Ulm Medical Center, said premature infants usually make up about 10-15 percent of all the children born in this area. He said one chief concern among preemies is that if their lungs won't develop, they can die. They are also at risk for liver problems, bleeding disorders and increased risk of infection.

Burkhart said Noah was a rare premature baby because of his size and because he was born even before most preemies.

While he was in the NICU, Noah was also hooked up to an apnea monitor that would sound an alarm whenever he stopped breathing. Noah often stopped breathing 50 times a day, Rachel said.

Rachel remembered her reaction to the situation was like a terrifying dream. She never wanted to believe it was happening and didn't know the full extent of the severity of Noah's condition.

Wade took a leave of absence from his job as a tool and die maker in Le Sueur for close to two months and rented a room near the hospital. Rachel said she and Wade would sometimes come back to New Ulm to catch up with bills and other affairs. Driving nearly two hours to come home, unpack, repack and head back up to St. Paul took its toll and both Rachel and Wade often felt rushed.

"I tried to go back to work once," he said. "I got to the hospital doors and I just turned around. It was too hard to leave."

Three months later, when he had reached five pounds in weight, Noah came home with Wade. Rachel stayed in the hospital for an infection.

Noah was the same size as a Beanie Baby when his parents brought him back to New Ulm. Wade said most of the people that first saw him cried because it was so overwhelming to see a baby Noah's size. Wade even nicknamed his son "E.T." because he had such a large head and such a small body. Noah stayed on the apnea monitor for a time.

But these days, Noah's a normal, healthy, 18-pound baby boy who just started crawling. And Rachel and Wade have a new set of tasks ahead of them. Rachel recently left her job at a local daycare center to take care of Noah. She typically gets up early in the morning on weekdays to feed her son, while Wade handles parental duties, including watching wrestling with Noah, on the weekends.

Rachel credited her faith, her family and her friends for helping her get through the uncertainty as well as Burkhart and the staff at Children's Hospital for their advice.

"We hope we can take him back (to the NICU) some day so he can see what it was like when he was little," Rachel said.

Today, the Kreis' have rented a hall at Vogel Fieldhouse for Noah's first birthday party. Seventy people from South Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota have been invited to attend the celebration.

"He's our little miracle man," Rachel said.

Wade added, "Most kids, when you take them to a restaurant will scream and cry. He just sits there in his high chair and plays with his toys."