On Sunday, October 27th, we were sitting in church and Mimi mentioned that Lucy had not been moving much that morning or the night before. She was counting movements and as the morning progressed the movements became fewer and fewer. Sunday afternoon several hours passed with no movement in her belly. We were naturally concerened and called the State of Franklin OBGYN 24 HR Emergent Line. Dr Brent Laing asked Mimi to come on in so that he could watch her for a little while.
When we arrived at Franklin Woods Hospital, Mimi was hooked to several monitors and much to our relief...Lucy had what seemed to be a great heartbeat. After several hours, Dr Laing still had some concerns but felt like everything would be fine by morning. Around 7pm, an ultrasound was ordered to see what little Lucy was up to in there. Still no movement but a good heartbeat. She looked like she was in a peaceful slumber.
By 7:30pm, Lucy started reacting adversely to Mimi's very minor contractions. Each time there would be a contraction, Lucy's heartbeat would plummet. Dr Laing decided to sit on the bed with us and just watch Lucy's reactions. After some time, Dr Laing realized that Lucy was in enough trouble that she needed to be delivered very soon. He decided that inducing labor would be too much for Lucy to handle and that an emergency C-Section would be the route we needed to go and soon. We agreed.
By 8:30pm, Mimi was in the OR and the doctors were preparing her spinal. At 9:10pm, Lucy Pattison Simpson was born. She cried and then the action began. As soon as Lucy's umbilical cord was cut, he lights essentially went out. She could not breathe and her heart was not wanting to beat. Lucy was bright white from blood loss.
The neonatal nurses and doctors went to work. Things were flying around the room and people were everywhere. They could not get her to breathe and could not get her heart to beat consistently. Very quickly Dr Darshan Shah (Neonatologist) arrived and started directing efforts. After a 50 minute battle, they had Lucy stabilized enough to move her to the NICU at Niswonger Childrens Hospital.
Before they transported Lucy, Dr Shah came to our room to let us know the chances of surviving this were very slim. He had already begun to suspect that Lucy suffered from Chronic Anemia and she had lost about 85% of her blood over several weeks time. Something that was not detectable. On top of that, she was 5 weeks early.
Around 11pm, I decided to go be with Lucy at the NICU since we were at another hospital. Over the next few hours I began to realize what had occurred and what was happening. Little Lucy's oxygen in her blood was almost nil. She had a hemoglobin of 3, something that had never been seen by these doctors. Her lungs required complete support. Her heart was enlarged to fill almost her entire chest cavity. She was requiring a lot of blood since she basically had none when she was born. Her other organs were not operating due to lack of blood and oxygen. Her body was in a severe state of Acidosis. She had very little chance of survival. I was told just a few more hours if things did not change.
After a few more hours, Dr Shah and the unbelievable nursing staff in the NICU had her a little more stable due to a nitric treatment. I then decided that Mimi needed some attention as well and Lucy was in good hands.
Monday morning, I called for updates. Lucy was having trouble again with her oxygen levels and she was really in trouble again. They worked and worked and worked on her. By about midday, they had come from about losing her to brining her to a state of some stability. Unbelievable work by this staff.
Monday night, Mimi and I went to see Lucy. Her oxygen levels were fairly stable in the 90s up to 100. Her hemoglobin was at a 32.....all the way from a 3 to begin with. She was still on 100% jet ventilator and a back up ventilator. She was still on the nitric treatment. She was still on every other machine known to man.....but she was stable for the time being.
Tuesday. Dr Laing decided to discharge Mimi. This afternoon, we left Franklin Woods Hospital and went directly to Niswonger NICU to see LUCY. She has begun to retain a lot fluid because her kidneys are not functioning well....so she is very swolen. Her oxygen levels are good. Her Acidosis is getting better and better. She is still on full support. Her abdomen scan showed damage to all of her organs but the severity is still unknown. An ultrasound of her brain shows that there is no bleeding in the brain....thats a praise. Dr Shah came in and talked to us. He said that Lucy has come so so far but she still has a long way to go.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
We left our house around noon to go see our sweet little girl. About 5 minutes before we arrived Hunter's phone rang. It was the NICU. They told us to hurry...she was slipping away and very fast. My parents were following us. We got there as fast as we could. When we got to her side her numbers were very low. The nurses and Dr. Shah were doing everything they could. I fell on my knees and prayed so hard. I cried out to our Father...the Great Physician. A few minutes later a miracle had occured. Her numbers were back up and she was stable. Dr. Shah had no medical answer for how this happened. We knew what had happened. The Great Physicia had performed a miracle. He wanted us to know how mighty and powerful he was and still is! I thought we were good to go. I just knew she was going to come out of this and it was going to be one of those "miracle stories." Well, the Lord had another plan! Yes, he perfomed a miracle right in front of our eyes, but He is the final decision maker. Dr. Shah ordered and ultrasound of her brain. The ultrasound showed severe hemorrhaging in her brain. Our sweet, precious Lucy was not going to make it. I held her and sang to her with her Daddy right beside me. We kissed and loved our sweet little girl. She left my arms and went straight home to her Father's arms.
Hunter and I both saw the gospel in such a real way through our sweet Lucy. We tasted a tiny bit of the agony that God our Father went through when he put his only son on the cross. He could have stopped it but he didn't. It wasn't part of the "story." He could have saved Lucy, but he didn't. It wasn't his plan for her life. He has bigger plans. We rest in knowing that our God is sovereign, merciful, and gracious. He is loving, compassionate and kind. Yes, this hurts like a hurt we have never felt before, but I truly feel his presence. He is working in and through us for His Glory!
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