Mother and Son Receives Surprise from The Honest Company
Hearing the news that you’re about to have your first-born is an exciting time. You might wonder about what your child will look like, or what you’ll name him or her, but there’s a lot to worry about as well. You hope that your child will be a healthy infant and that your pregnancy will go smoothly. But sometimes things don’t go as planned, no matter how much you hope.
Zion Branch was born Nov. 9, 2015, and labeled a micro-preemie. He weighed only 1 pound, 1 ounce, and was barely a foot long at the time of birth. Since the adult hospital he was at did not have the resources to care for him, he was flown to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and immediately admitted into our Newborn and Infant Critical Care Unit (NICCU).
While here, he underwent nine surgeries. The first was a tube placement for a collapsed lung; he received a second tube when another pocket of air built up in his ribs. He then had an ileostomy, a procedure that moves waste out of the body, since there were two tears in his intestines. Zion’s ileostomy was then later closed and corrections to the tears in his intestines were made. Finally, a gastrostomy tube (G-tube) was inserted to help deliver nutrition directly to his stomach.
All of these procedures happened before Zion even turned 5 months old, but Zion’s mother, Mykael Badon, still remained hopeful.
“It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions, mixed mental states, dreadful fear, then back to the highest of hopes while watching my little miracle survive his very own war with life,” says Mykael.
Due to the snowball of events, Mykael was never given a chance to throw the baby shower that she and Zion really needed. Fortunately, while Zion was still an inpatient, The Honest Company arrived to provide the entire NICCU families with diapers and products from its personal care line.
But when The Honest Company founder Christopher Gavigan and Chief Marketing Officer Chris Thorne heard Mykael’s story, they offered her an entire year’s supply of diapers.
After spending four months in the NICCU, Zion is now almost 10 pounds and 21 inches long. Although he will be leaving the hospital with a few medications, oxygen and a G-tube, Mykael can’t wait to hold Zion in her arms at home.
“The [CHLA] staff has been so amazing in everything that they have done for him,” says Mykael. “I adore them all and couldn’t be more grateful to them all for getting us this far. They gave me what I thought I could never have: a child of my own and hope for the future.”
