Josie Bates Reveals Newborn Daughter Hazel Is in NICU Battling Jaundice

Road to recovery. Two days after Josie Bates gave birth to her and Kelton Balka’s daughter Hazel, the couple gave an update on the little one’s health.

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“From the very beginning of her life, Hazel has been teaching us to honor God’s plans above our own,” the Bringing Up Bates stars captioned a joint Instagram slideshow of hospital pictures on Wednesday, June 16. “Routine bloodwork in the first trimester revealed that Hazel’s pregnancy was complicated by an exceedingly rare blood condition, unlike anything the doctors had seen before. Basically, for reasons unknown and possibly as a result of our previous miscarriage, Josie’s blood and Hazel’s were fighting against each other. We consulted with specialists, prayed and put our tiny daughter’s life in His loving hands. God answered prayers, she overcame odds and all tests began to be overwhelmingly reassuring.”

The infant, however, “began to show signs that her body needed extra help due to complications from her condition” shortly after her Monday, June 14, arrival.

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“She developed a type of jaundice unique to her situation, and we transported [her] to the Children’s Hospital NICU in the early hours of the morning, where she is being monitored by teams of highly skilled doctors and nurses,” the UPtv personalities concluded. “She is stable in every other way, and right now is just requiring supportive care to help bring down her bilirubin levels, while her body slowly removes the antibodies fighting against her blood. We praise God for his mercies and pray that her condition remains stable and continues to improve.”

The pair’s siblings shared their support in the comments section. “Praying for sweet baby Hazel! Love you guys sooo much,” Whitney Bates wrote, while Erin Bates added, “Praying for you all right now! We love you so much!”

Us Weekly broke the news on Tuesday, June 15, that Josie, 21, and Balka, 25, had welcomed baby No. 2. They are also the parents of 22-month-old daughter Willow.

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“After so many months of dreaming about what it would be like as a family of four and anticipating our baby’s arrival, Kelton and I are absolutely thrilled to welcome our little baby girl, Hazel Sloane Balka, into the world,” the couple exclusively told Us. “This pregnancy was much more complex than our first due to complications we had from a previous miscarriage in August 2020, so we were a little nervous, but delivery went so smoothly thanks to Dr. Brabson’s incredible birthing team, our midwife, Laura, and the kind nurses at Tenova North Birthing Center.”

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