SPOKANE — Kane Nash arrived a year ago in Spokane. He was what specialists call a “micro preemie” — the tiniest of premature newborns.
Born at 23 weeks, Kane weighed 15 ounces and measured 10.5 inches long.
Before the July 9, 2023, cesarean section delivery at Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, parents Chris and Amber Nash heard the baby’s survival odds: a 21% to 26% chance.
Amber Nash had pre-eclampsia, a dangerous high-blood pressure pregnancy condition, threatening her and the baby. She asked Spokane neonatologist Dr. Lisa McGill-Vargas for just the facts: A preemie like Kane faced multiple medical issues and possible neurodevelopmental ones, because his organs hadn’t yet developed.
“Dr. McGill-Vargas said, ‘I’m going to be honest, although he’s 23 weeks, he’s measuring 21 weeks.’ That is how depleted my placenta was and not giving him what he needed,” said Amber Nash, 37. “She said, ‘I don’t know if we have a breathing tube small enough to fit.’