Chloe
A Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) Warrior
When my husband, Marzio, and I found out I was pregnant on September 18, 2021, I knew that as long as there were no complications, I wanted to give birth without medical intervention. Chloe and I were both healthy throughout the pregnancy, and genetic testing did not show anything of concern. After a lot of deliberation, we planned for a home birth.
Late morning on June 2, 2022, I woke up in labor. Contractions were consistent but relatively mild. I texted Marzio at work to let him know he should come home soon and called my midwife, Tisha, to let her know I was in labor. Tisha suggested I rest and let her know when things started to pick up. Since it was my first pregnancy, she anticipated a longer labor.
I was scheduled for a massage that day to help induce labor, and when I let the massage therapist know I was already in labor, she offered to come to my house to help labor progress. By the time she arrived, my contractions were becoming more intense and were about ten minutes apart. An hour into the 90-minute massage, my contractions had grown significantly in intensity and were about five minutes apart. I decided to end the massage early, and Marzio called Tisha to let her know I seemed to be progressing quickly. She arrived less than an hour later, and I was 8 cm dilated.
Before long, I was pushing. I spent over three hours pushing, and Chloe would not pass my pelvic bone, regardless of what position I was in. Tisha checked fetal heart tones every few minutes to make sure Chloe was not in distress. Though she was okay, we decided to transfer to the hospital. That short five-minute drive seemed to do the trick, because upon our arrival, the baby was crowning. The energy in the room was positive and light. No one anticipated anything out of the ordinary.
I gave birth at 10:20 p.m., within 20 minutes of arriving. The midwife who delivered Chloe placed her on my chest for no longer than a second before taking her away. Chloe was gray and lifeless. A team of doctors flooded the room. I kept waiting to hear her cry, but I never did. She scored a 2 on her Apgar both times, only receiving credit for her heart tones.
The next couple of hours were a blur. Chloe was taken to the special care unit, and we were told that the pH of her cord blood gases was lower than they’d ever seen. She was intubated, and the team prepared her to be transferred to the NICU at Albany Medical Center, an hour away. Marzio and I were told that Chloe likely would not survive, and the doctor offered to call the hospital chaplain. We were in shock. We were told that the umbilical cord had avulsed, and we still do not know how or why.
My friend, Alicia, went down to the NICU with Marzio, and my mom came to stay with me, as they wanted to keep me overnight. I was discharged before 8 a.m. the next morning, and my mom and I headed to Albany Med. When I arrived, Chloe was still intubated, hooked up to a continuous EEG, and undergoing therapeutic hypothermia in an attempt to slow brain damage.
She was diagnosed with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) and a seizure disorder. An MRI showed moderate to severe brain damage in both hemispheres of her brain, and the neurologist predicted that she would develop cerebral palsy. Her heart and lung function did not seem to be compromised, so after a couple of days, they extubated her and tried her right away on room air.
The nurses allowed me to hold her, and before long, her oxygen levels dropped significantly. A myriad of alarms went off as she turned blue in my arms. Several medical professionals flew into the room and pulled her out of my arms to resuscitate her. She was placed on oxygen, and it was later determined that the apnea episodes were due to seizures. She did not have any other outward signs of seizures besides the oxygen drops. They put her on a combination of seizure medications, and once her seizures were controlled, she was able to come off oxygen.
Though her oxygen levels were up, she was lethargic and had no rooting or sucking reflex. The doctors decided to wean her off one of the seizure medications to see if these reflexes would appear—and thankfully, they did. Within the next week, Chloe went from being exclusively tube-fed to taking both bottle and breast. She was discharged from the NICU on one seizure medication. After an EEG a few months later, she was tapered off of it. We are so grateful to say she has been seizure-free since.
Chloe has been receiving physical therapy twice a week through early intervention for about a year now due to delayed gross motor skills. She cannot crawl, stand unassisted, or walk, but she can scoot around on her butt at lightning speed. Five months ago, she had an MRI of her spine due to concerns about a tethered spinal cord. While that was ruled out, they did find a spinal syrinx. Doctors are unsure whether that is contributing to her motor delays.
She will have another MRI of her spine and brain next month to see if the syrinx is growing, to monitor her brain development, and to determine whether she has cerebral palsy.
Despite these roadblocks, Chloe is the happiest girl with the most contagious smile. She is bright, loving, and has the funniest personality. She started speech therapy just over a month ago and is already showing growth. We are so proud of her and constantly in awe of her strength and resilience.
She is going to be a big sister in just a few short months, and I cannot wait to see her step into this new role. Chloe is my tiny best friend, and I just know she is destined for great things.
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