Hannah Caroline Stoll
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After several weeks of bed rest, several trips to the hospital, inpatient hospital stays, medications to stop my contractions, my water broke. Shortly after, I began running a high fever. There was no holding this birth off any longer - Hannah Caroline was born by C-Section on August 2, 2003 at 11:16 pm (25 weeks, 3 days gestation). She topped the scales at 1 lb, 12 oz., 13 inches long. We knew we were in for a long, hard road (our oldest daughter was a former 24-weeker and also a miracle child). We figured we'd face the typical lung issues, probably some feeding issues - a little naïve on our part you could say.
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Right away, Hannah developed a bacterial infection and within a week of her birth we discovered she had suffered a Grade II brain bleed. Despite the setbacks, she was taken off the ventilator and put on
CPAP. She did beautifully for several days. They treated her with medication for patent ductus arteriousus (PDA), which would later need to be surgically repaired. As most preemies do, she tired out and was placed back on the ventilator. Hannah endured several rounds of the
vent/CPAP rotation. However, toward the end of August, it became apparent that her PDA was causing respiratory problems. The solution: a PDA
ligation.
We thought we were home free after the PDA ligation. Not so. Her first post-surgery extubation lasted only a few hours. Her airway was very swollen as evidenced by the
stridor. Doctors prescribed a round of steroids to ease the airway swelling and extubated again a few days later. This time she failed after about 8 hours. It was time to send her for a
bronchoscopy, however she weighed less than 1500 grams so we had to wait. By the time she hit the weight requirement, she was sick-very sick. She remained ill with pneumonia and several other bacterial infections for over a month.
On October 29th, she was transported to our Children's Hospital for a bronchoscopy and cricoid split. She again became very ill after the surgery-pneumonia, lung collapse, bacterial infection. She again failed two
extubations. (Hannah also failed multiple self-extubations -I lost count around 8.) One of my worst fears would become a reality: Hannah would need a trach. On November 26th, Hannah underwent another
bronchoscopy, along with a tracheotomy. Handing her over for this surgery was one of the hardest things my husband and I had to do. I was horrified at the mere thought of the surgeon creating an opening in Hannah's perfect little neck to place a tube for her to breathe through. What would this mean for Hannah? What would this mean for our family? I was terrified that she would get sick after this surgery, too.
Hannah handled the surgery like a little champ. She was off the ventilator within about 48 hours and off of CPAP after another 48 hours. She was (and still is) on oxygen. It was actually a relief to see her breathing without mechanical assistance. And to finally be able to see her little face!! What a thrill!
The next hurdle: Hannah needed to learn to eat from a bottle. Hannah would eat very well for several feedings in a row and then just tire out for several more feedings. We had a choice: put Hannah through another surgery for a feeding tube or let her come home with a nasogastric tube (NG). We chose the
NG - I was determined to work with her, no matter how long it might take.
Hannah was discharged from the NICU on January 5, 2004. After 5 long months, she was finally home. We are so very blessed and grateful to have Hannah home with us. She is such a happy little baby.
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We thank our family, friends, church family and many that we have yet to meet for your prayers and support during Hannah's stay in the NICU. Our family has been so touched by the outpouring of love you have shown us. We continue to pray for Hannah's complete recovery. She still has evidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. We pray for her continued progress and resolution to her respiratory and airway issues. We pray for patience. We pray for acceptance of God's plan for our lives - whatever that might be. God bless you all!
