Micropreemie born to local couple at 26 weeks is fighting for his life

IDAHO FALLS — A local family has a long road ahead of them after their son was born at 26 weeks and three days, weighing only 1 pound, 10 ounces.

Zac and Maci Klingler, who are both in their 20s, were looking forward to welcoming their first child in September 2024. But when Maci went in for a routine OB appointment on May 29 — she was 25 weeks and four days along — her blood pressure was high, reading around 170/113.

She was immediately put on blood pressure medicine, but her blood pressure continued to remain elevated. She was put on bed rest, and the following day, was told she had preeclampsia, which is a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure.

“The physician referred us to a maternal-fetal specialist who we met with the following Monday,” Maci recalled. “(He) told us there was fetal growth restriction, and my placenta was not functioning the way it should. (Our son) went from being in the 30 percentile of growth to 3.”

The maternal-fetal specialist told the Klinglers they needed to pack their bags and get to the labor and delivery unit at the hospital within an hour. Once they arrived at Mountain View Hospital, they scheduled a C-section to take place that week. On June 5 at 4:12 p.m., Dallas Klingler was born.

Maci said Dallas “had a whole bunch of things” doctors were monitoring, including a septal defect, but the main issue was Dallas developed pulmonary interstitial emphysema (PIE). Maci described this condition as air pockets that are leaking so he can’t maintain pressure in his lungs. He also wasn’t developing any lung tissue.

“He spent a lot of time on the oscillator, which physically pulls that CO2 out of his lungs to hopefully keep his oxygenation up,” Maci said.

Doctors did an experimental treatment with nitric oxide to see if it would help his lungs. Maci mentioned that it’s not approved for babies under the age of 35 weeks and they were told if it didn’t work, Dallas would need to be transferred to another hospital.

“We decided if this is really his only shot, we might as well try it and hope for the best,” Maci said. “I just gripped my seat and watched that monitor for the next hour hoping his numbers would flip so we would see his oxygen go back up … and his carbon dioxide go down to the 60s where (the doctor) wanted them.”

Dallas responded well to the treatment at first, but the next morning, it all changed. His stats weren’t where doctors wanted them to be, and an X-ray still showed air pockets on one of his lungs and the other lung had atelectasis, which is the collapse of part or all of a lung.

Dallas was life-flighted to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City on June 12.

“When we got to Primary Children’s, they told us he was in respiratory failure,” Maci said.

He was put on a jet ventilator, which Maci said treats each lung separately. Zac said the jet ventilator is “a lot calmer” on Dallas.

“It helps his lungs heal naturally. … This is a little more gentle to help them hopefully heal on their own,” Zac explained. “Knock on wood, not to jinx it, but that’s what the doctors have said so far, is it’s looking better as the days go on.”

On top of these challenges, Dallas has also had issues with his kidneys and needed a foley catheter, and he has pulmonary hypertension, where the blood pressure in his lungs is too high.

“We think everything comes back to these lungs,” Maci stated. “He’s got a long road, and his lungs are sick. They are really, really sick.”

Maci said Dallas was checked on Sunday and his PIE was almost completely gone, but the issue now is his lung tissue is depleted. The medical staff is trying to oxygenate him a little bit more to start helping the lung tissue develop.

“When you have a premature baby, it’s ups and downs. You feel so frustrated you can’t do anything or helpless watching them struggle, grow and fight,” said Zac, who held his son for the first time on Father’s Day. “But you also feel the incredible highs of the miracle of modern medicine. … This is our first child, and we get to appreciate all the little moments.”

Maci graduated from College of Eastern Idaho in May and started her new job at Mountain View Hospital the day before being told she needed to be on bed rest. Her insurance doesn’t kick in until August. Zac is currently traveling back and forth from Utah to Idaho Falls, where he works.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with the unexpected medical and travel costs. The couple expressed their thanks to all those who have supported and comforted them during this time.