This post is sponsored by HCA HealthONE.
In early January, my husband, Josh, and I enjoyed a night out at Ball Arena to watch the Denver Nuggets take on the San Antonio Spurs. Throughout the night, I noticed the baby moving and kicking in response to the exciting environment. And while the Nuggets fell to the San Antonio Spurs that night, the baby’s response to the noise and excitement had affirmed to me that the baby was well and healthy.
So, when we had a quiet night at home the next night, I decided to take the opportunity to pay closer attention to the baby’s movements. I was 29 weeks, so I decided to start keeping track of kick counts. I kept hearing from others that I should do it and I’d never done it. She had been crazy moving that the morning and afternoon, so I thought it was a great time. But now, she wasn’t as active. I tried different things to get the baby to move but felt in my gut that something was off. And, when I explained the situation to my OB practice’s nurse line, they agreed I should come to the hospital for evaluation.
We headed to HCA HealthONE Rose, but the medical team didn’t find a definitive reason for the baby’s distress. My OB/GYN also had a gut feeling about the situation and soon, the team decided I would deliver the baby via C-section.
In the early morning hours of January 5, Greta was born, weighing only two pounds, 13 ounces. At first, she seemed OK. She was breathing on her own, was the right color, and seemed healthy. But only hours later, things became more complicated when Greta’s team found that she was bleeding into her lungs. They decided to transfer her to the Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at their sister hospital, HCA HealthONE Rocky Mountain Children’s. I knew Greta was in good hands with a team of specialized neonatal experts.
We met with the medical team and they decided to administer IVIG, an intravenous immunoglobulin. The treatment infuses antibodies into the body and is used to boost the immune system, treat autoimmune disorders and prevent infections. This rapid decision ended up being critical for Greta’s survival. During the next few weeks, the team began to suspect Greta had a very rare condition called neonatal hemochromatosis (NH). The disorder, which is estimated to occur in one in one million pregnancies worldwide, causes liver failure in newborns and survival rates are generally low. We learned that if we had waited to go the next day, she likely would have been stillborn. We had a very small window of time and that gut feeling that I got, and the OB got was critical for her survival.
Key decisions like the early administration of IVIG continued throughout Greta’s NICU stay.
Another was made by the neonatal care team as they advocated for Greta to undergo a DVET procedure. Because Greta’s liver was not functioning properly, she had very high levels of ammonia. And DVET, or double-volume-exchange-transfusion, removes all the blood and replaces it two times over with new blood, greatly reducing those dangerous levels.
Ultimately, Greta stayed in the NICU for 74 days. Medication was used to help repair her liver, and she began feeding on her own. And despite initial worries about her brain function and potential disabilities, she began responding to stimuli, tracking movements, and eventually breathing on her own without help. She even came home without oxygen (a rare feat for preemies in Colorado).
Now at four months old (1.5 months, adjusted), Greta is hitting her developmental milestones. While we do not know how she will be affected later, we have a plan in place with the medical team to follow up and support her miraculous recovery step by step. We believe Greta is put on this earth for a reason. There were so many coincidences and gut feelings — from my feeling to go in and the OB’s decision to deliver her; that first does of IVIG and then the DVET — these were life and death moments. She is here for a bigger purpose, and we are so excited to find out what that is.
Jess Klein lives in Denver, Colorado and is a mom to Greta.
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