黑料福利社

Amy and Tavis Guild spend all the time they can with their newborn son, Leo. They sit near him as he sleeps, almost close enough to touch him.

Born in Yakima at 25 weeks on the morning of April 30, Leo is in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at in Tacoma. Originally due Aug. 12, he will be in the NICU through August.

Tavis and Amy take turns at Mary Bridge Children's. They live in Yakima with their two older children and run their photography and canvas mounting businesses.

Amy and a friend, Paige Wilkinson, created a . Funds raised will go toward temporary housing near the hospital, travel expenses back and forth from home, medical expenses and unexpected costs.

Last Friday, when Leo was one week and one day old, he was strong enough for Amy to hold him. Nurses helped her maneuver the tubes that keep him alive. She was able to cradle him to her chest for nearly two hours. It was precious beyond words.

He's gaining weight. On Monday, Leo weighed 820 grams, or 1.8 pounds. That鈥檚 20 grams up from his birth weight. He opened his eyes for the first time.聽He's getting stronger. He wiggles and waves his arms and legs, wraps a tiny hand around a parent's finger.

Leo responds to noises and touch, and knows Amy's voice. Though they cherish every interaction with him and wish there were more, his parents want him to sleep as much as possible so he conserves calories and gains strength.

"The No. 1 priority is getting him to sleep and grow," Amy said in a Zoom interview from Leo's room on Thursday morning. He had just turned 1 week old.

"He is stable. He is in the exact place he needs to be. We are hopeful," she said then. "And I have my hard times when I'm crying, but there's also normal times, when I can sit here and talk. I can't say I feel peace, but I feel hope. Everything's going well.

"Every little step, every little milestone is significant and we just take it as it goes."

'Last chance miracle'

Amy and Tavis own , specializing in wedding photography and family portraits, and also run a canvas mounting business. They're located in longtime Yakima photographer Ken Whitmire's former studio at 8 N. Eighth Ave. and purchased Whitmire's Canvas a few months after Whitmire died at age 86 in November 2016.

Graduates of West Valley High School, 黑料福利社 College and Central Washington University, the couple majored in business and technology courses and took photos on the side. They also attended photography workshops to hone their skills.

They have strong faith and believe in giving back. In 2014, they completed a mission trip to Zambia, Africa, to help Capital Christian Ministries, a Pentecostal/charismatic church.

The couple have another son and a daughter, 11-year-old Lincoln and Jovie, who is 9. Amy had them in her 20s and had a fairly easy time getting pregnant, with "great pregnancies, great deliveries," she recalled. But they tried for a third child for eight years before moving to in vitro fertilization, Amy said.

She underwent surgery last August due to her endometriosis, and after she miscarried a daughter and twin boys, Leo's embryo was her last chance to get pregnant. They weren't sure if the process would be successful.

"He was this last chance miracle IVF," Amy said. "The whole thing is both a miracle that it even took, and shocking. I'm still in shock about all of it. Nothing about this process was easy or normal or regular."

When Amy's water broke on the morning of April 30, Tavis was out of town聽鈥� the one time of the year he travels without her, Amy said. In extreme panic she called a friend, who took her to聽MultiCare Yakima Memorial Hospital.聽

Leo was born about 45 minutes later by emergency cesarean section around 7:15 a.m. Amy had suffered umbilical cord prolapse, and the C-section was the only option.聽

Amy shares updates on . She wrote about seeing Leo a聽few hours post-op.

"Tears streamed down my face as I met my son in the NICU.聽The most perfect and tiny human I鈥檝e ever seen.聽Our miracle IVF baby. Strength like a Lion, just like his name," she wrote. "The life flight team came to transfer him. My soul ached as I said goodbye, praying for fierce protection that he would make it to Tacoma. This was one of the hardest days of my life."

Strong support

Mary Bridge Children's cares for different levels of premature babies, Amy said. Leo is considered a micro preemie because he was younger than 27 weeks when born.聽聽

"He's definitely not the smallest Mary Bridge has seen. They've seen it all here," she said.

Tavis compresses his work week into very long days every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday while Amy spends those days at Mary Bridge Children's. Then they switch. Each parent likes to be at the hospital by 10 a.m., when Leo's doctors come by during their rounds, and usually stays until about 10 p.m., Amy said.

They also want to be there for Leo's care times. That's when his medical team comes in for various regular checks and care.

"We all stand up, we all gather round, get to touch him, help him out," Amy said. "That's also the most emotional time for me. I sit here all day; nothing's really going on all day. Most of the day is fine.

"I only get really emotional when I get involved and see him hooked up to all those machines. The reality sets in during those care times."

There's no lodging for families at Mary Bridge Children's, and the nearest Ronald McDonald House isn't close. Tavis and Amy have stayed in a hotel nearby. These days, they're staying at a friend's bonus room in Puyallup. Another friend has offered them use of a tiny home in Tacoma.

They've met and made friends over a wide area through their wedding photography business, Amy said. "We have people all over. That has been a huge blessing," she added.

Older siblings Jovie and Lincoln know this is their "anything for baby Leo鈥� summer. They know this won't be a normal summer, Amy said, and are understanding聽鈥� as are the family's many relatives and friends.

"At this exact moment in time I have 401 unread texts that I need to reply to sometime," Amy wrote in a recent email. "I鈥檓 giving myself permission to take my time on responding 鈥� sorry everyone. Lots of Instagram messages, Facebook messages, email, calls, texts, random Venmo transfers with little notes. Some people have also dropped things at my house!"

She specifically wanted to thank their parents, Kevin and Linda Holmes, and Bruce and Tanda Ferguson for taking their children overnight for the first week without any notice. They appreciate best friends Chad and Stephanie Peterson "for putting their lives on hold as well, tending to so many of our needs," Amy wrote.

"The Wilkinsons, Bemis family 鈥� countless friends and family who have helped us so much," she added. "Also a shout out to some people who gave us amazing care at Memorial hospital and kept Leo alive: Amanda Flumerfelt, Brianna Larios, Kjel Waldron, Hannah Gatchel, Ana Dufault, Kaci Bisconer, Kristin Carter. Plus everyone here at Mary Bridge Children鈥檚!"

They are glad for the care Leo is getting. His care team monitors "absolutely everything you can think of 鈥� every single little detail," Amy said.

"It's amazing how much they know about what's going on in this teeny tiny body," she said. "I really feel confident we are in the best place for him."