“He’s home now after 831 days in the hospital, so this is very exciting,” said Kim Reynolds, Jaxyn’s mom. “We’re excited to see how he thrives at home.”

Late last year, Reynolds went on a campaign to build a team of nurses to make Jaxyn’s homecoming possible.

Jaxyn was born premature at 29 weeks and, due to a number of conditions faced by many premature babies, requires round-the-clock care.

Kimberly Reynolds watches her son Jaxyn be wheeled into their home in Loyalsock Tuesday morning by paramedics from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Two-year-old Jaxyn hasn’t ever been home until this moment after spending over 800 days in hospitals after he was born. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Among those afflictions are bronchopulmonary dysplasia and bronchomalacia, conditions that affect the lungs and airways, respectively. Jaxyn also suffers from Sotos syndrome, which causes him to grow abnormally fast, as well as cognitive and developmental delays.

As a result of these conditions, Jaxyn requires both a tracheostomy, which allows him to breathe, and a feeding tube.

Jaxyn also has low muscle tone, leaving him unable to move around much on his own or hold his head up.

“It definitely takes a whole team,” Reynolds said. “It took a village, and we have probably one of the best villages out there, so we’re very blessed.”

Jaxyn’s arrival home was long fought for as Reynolds showed unwavering optimism in the face of the many challenges that exist in providing adequate care for her son.

“It’s a day for the longest time we never thought was going to happen,” she said. “You’re told your child is critical, and your child may never make it home, but then you realize there’s nothing stopping you and I continued to fight for him on a daily basis no matter what I was told.”

“I’m just mind blown that we’re here,” Reynolds said. “I’m excited and I’m happy. Words can’t even express the joy I feel.”

Those feelings of elation extended to the team that worked so hard to make this day possible.

“This is the first time we’re bringing kids out in the central Pennsylvania area, so this is a really big deal for us,” said BAYADA nurse Vicki Hafner, who is part of the home ICU team.

“This is a really big deal for us to bring our skills and the ability for the families to come home from the hospital after long stays, and to partner with the home offices, so we can help to make sure that Jackson has a safe and progressive time at home,” she said.

“Though there are other kids in our area like this, this was a big deal for us locally,” Jonah Milliken, director of BAYADA’s Williamsport office, said.

“It’s the culmination of a lot of team effort,” he said. “For me personally, it’s helped kind of realign me to a sense of purpose in what we do here at BAYADA.”

Milliken’s experiences with Jaxyn’s family and other patients gives the director new found appreciation for things that so many people often take for granted.

“I can’t even begin to imagine what she’s gone through, and what Jaxyn’s gone through being away for two and a half years,” he said. “So many things that I take for granted, like going home at work and seeing my family is not a given. I also recognize the fact that this is one step in the journey, and I’m proud and confident in the stewardship that we have as caregivers.”

“There’s a whole team of great nurses behind this case, and we’re just one piece of it,” Milliken added.

“This is where the HICU comes in and we really shine,” Hafner said. “Most of our HICU nurses have a lot of trachea experience, whether it was in the hospitals or in other facilities, so we really have a plethora of experience and so we like to bring that to the home to help ease that transition.”

“I spent a lot of my career in the hospital setting so helping to bring these kids home and to help them to ease the anxiety of what that feels like from going there between the team that’s going to take care of him for the long term for the families and the patient,” Hafner added.

When asked what the best part of the journey to bring Jaxyn home was, Hafner said, “Seeing Jaxyn come out and mom, her smile, because I know it was such a big deal and it’s a long time coming. Jaxyn being united with his family opens up a whole new world of possibilities for not only the Bluey enthusiast and his mom, but also for big sister Tessa, who Reynolds said is excited to see her brother home.”

“He gets to truly have a life and I’m excited to see what that looks like for him,” Reynolds said. “I’m excited to see his personality flourish and to see his development needs be met, and to see the child that he was meant to be come out.”

“We spent over two years surviving and now we get to live,” added Reynolds.