Ambler family celebrates son's 3rd birthday after extended care at CHOP and at home
AMBLER, Pa. (CBS) — A family in Ambler is proving that their son is more than his medical conditions.
Trevor Ogborn loves two things: pirates and trucks.
But before he was able to freely run around and play with his toys, Trevor spent nearly his entire first year of life at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
"He wasn't able to breathe on his own," his mom Maddie Ogborn said. "His lungs were like scarred as they were developing. So, he needed ventilator support to come home, and that is like life support."
Trevor's parents, Maddie and Justin Ogborn, adopted him knowing he was born 24 weeks premature, leading him to develop a chronic lung disease.
"He weighed one pound at birth and we saw this picture of this little baby wrapped in plastic and both of our hearts just kind of knew that he was meant to be in our family," Maddie Ogborn said.
After his stay at CHOP in 2021, it was time for him to come home.
The Ogborns were one of the first families to pilot BAYADA's Home Intensive Care Unit Program.
"This program is really geared to prevent rehospitalizations," the program's director Susie Ecker Sterner said. "We want to make that bridge where we're nurses, but we're also going to let them be a family."
One of those nurses who helped the family transition from the hospital to their home was Kim Den Bleyker.
"To see him today where he doesn't require a G-tube feeding at all during the day, just has a feeding at night," Den Bleyker said. "He's taking all of his nutrition by mouth. He was decannulated and had his trach removed in the summer, and he's incredibly bright and incredibly joyful.
All that progress has come just in time for his third birthday, which the family celebrated at the beginning of February.
"He actually got to eat part of his cake this year, which was a first," Justin Ogborn said. "Overall, it doesn't even compare to his previous birthdays."
Trevor is expected to start preschool in the fall.
It's a journey of perseverance that his parents celebrated with a visit to the Rocky statue, knowing their son will always make it to the top of the steps.
To help more families like the Ogborns, BAYADA and CHOP are holding a fundraiser at the Fillmore on March 2.