Mckenzie's Birth Story

Hello everyone.I would like to take this time and tell you about my sweet child Mckenzie. She is my youngest of 5 girls. She was born Oct 22.1999. At 12:20a.m. She was two weeks early. She was 6lb and 3ozs. She was 18in long. When she was born the Ped Doctor came to do her exam on Mckenzie that next morning. Well, when Mckenzie was first born I kinda knew that something was not right because I could not get her to breastfeed and wake up. Anyhow, when the doctor came to look at her she heard a loud noise when she listened to her heart. But she figured that it was the sound of the valves that close sometime after birth. So she went home and that night the noise kept ringing in her mind so she came back up there and came into my room and told me that she was calling in a Cardio to just check and make sure that everything was ok.. Well I trusted her because when I was a child she was my Ped Doctor. So I said ok. Well, that's when the nightmare started.

Mckenzies Diagnoses

After the nurses came and took Mckenzie for her sonogram, I took a nap because I felt that there was no big deal about the sono because heart problems was not nothing that I would have thought would be wrong with Mckenzie. Well, I was wrong. The Cardio doctor came in and sat down and I knew that something was wrong because they didn't bring Mckenzie in with him. He sat down and looked at me and my husband and said "your baby has three holes in her heart. VSD." I looked at my husband and just said what the heck are you talking about. The Cardio doctor said I am sorry but you baby will need open heart surgery later on. Well, after that I cannot really tell you want else the doctor said because I felt like I was in a bad dream. I started crying. Then the doctor left the room and the nurse brought Mckenzie into the room and I just remember grabbing her and holding her and crying. I just wanted time to stop and start all over from the beginning. Well, that night we came home with Mckenzie and all we knew was that we could not let her cry hard and that we had to see that Cardio doctor in two weeks...I felt like no one really was helping us. I mean they tell you that your baby has holes in the heart and they send you home and not to see the doctor for two weeks. Man, it was weird.

The First Cardiologist Appointment

Anyhow, we took her to that Cardio doctor that saw her in the hospital. Well, I knew right then that I was not going to like this doctor because he really never gave us info about what VSD is or anything. He acted like she was just another patient. Well, I knew then when he said that she would not make it thru the surgery, that I wanted someone that care more for her life then what he was showing.

Changing our Cardiologist

So I changed Cardio doctors. And let me tell you I found the best person in the world. Dr, Wright is her name. When we took Mckenzie to her for the first time she made us feel like she loved and cared for the life of our child. She would let me call her any time with questions and she would talk to me herself..

Showing Signs

Well, on April 8,1999, Mckenzie started showing all the signs really bad. I mean she was blue before but now she had less energy and she was turning blue more often. So I called Dr. Wright, she said for me to bring her in the next day because this could be Mckenzie's heart telling us that its time..

Another Cardiologist Apointment

Well, that next day me and my husband took her to the Cardio doctor and she came in after she looked at the test results. She said "we are going to do a cath on her". Well, the cath was going to be the next week. The cath was done one April 20,1999. And even having that done scared the heck out of me because any time my child will not be awake just upsets me. Well, after the cath we was in the recovery room and the Cardio doctor came in and said that Mckenzie had a lot of build up on the valve and that her large VSD was 13 mm and that she needs to have the open heart surgery.. Let me tell you something, when you finally hear them say that they are actually going to do the surgery. You wish at that time that you could just stop time.. Well, we went home that day and the hospital called to check on MCkenzie and to tell us her date of surgery and to tell us what day to come in for all of her blood work. Let me tell you that was the most longest week of my life. Everyday I wished for someone to tell me that she was well and that she didn't need this surgery.. But of course that was not going to happen.. Well, that Sunday before the surgery was Easter. And the whole family on both sides came here to our house to have Easter. And that was very hard to think that this could maybe be our first and last Easter to spend with Mckenzie. Because, of course you have to think that something can happen during surgery. Well, that week the surgeon called to talk to me and tell me what all will happen during the surgery. He was very nice and caring. He did tell me the chances of something going wrong.. Well, we went in for her blood work and they asked us to have them let her get whole blood during the surgery.. They told us on how the kids recover faster and come off the respirator faster. Well, after looking at all the paper work we signed her up for it.

Night before Surgery

Well, the night before surgery was so hard... We gave her a bath with the special soap they sent us home with. My family and my husbands family took the other kids. So that night me and Ron (my husband) got to spend that last night before surgery with Mckenzie. If was so great to get to rock her to sleep. I held her till I got sleepy. We had to be at the hospital very early that next morning. And we live a very far distance from the hospital so we had to leave home at 4:00a.m. Well, that drive to the hospital was a very painful drive. My husband drove so that I could sit in the back with Mckenzie. I just could not stop looking at her. We got to the hospital and we went to the floor that they sent us to. And they took us to this room where they started all her paper work. The surgeon came in to talk to us. Well, we got good news and bad news he said. I was like what now!!! He said that one hole did close but that he wanted to let us know that he might not be able to save her pulmonary valve. That meant that she would require a transplant. I asked him why he didn't tell me on the phone when I talked to him and he said that this was something that he felt had to be said face to face. He left the room and I was holding Mckenzie in the rocking chair. I stood up and I had a very bad panic attack.. I looked at my husband and begged him to lets just go home. I was crying and scared. I just wanted to go home with my baby and to have all this be a bad dream. Of course my husband calmed me down. My mother came in the room and held Mckenzie and it was just so hard to for everyone. The nurse came in and gave Mckenzie this medicine that would make her relax for the surgery. The nurse came in and told us who he was. And then he said we are ready.. Of course my feet felt like I could not move. My husband asked if we could go with them to at least the doors. And they said that we could walk with them to the OR door. I stood up. And I remember Mckenzie playing with my necklace. And laughing. The meds they gave her was working. We was on the elevator going down and she was looking into my face and laughing. It was so hard to see her laugh and here I was drying inside. The doors opened and the nurse said this is it. My husband had to take the baby from me so that he could kiss her. I took her back and I said I love you to her and kissed her and then the nurse took her.. I remember her not crying and just smiling. I watched as the doors closed and I fell to the wall crying. That was so hard to see her go and not to know if I will ever see her again smiling..

The Surgery

Well, we went to the ICU waiting room. My whole family was there. After being there for an hour the person at the counter told me that the phone next to me was going to ring because it was the nurse in the OR. Well, I answered the phone and she said that they have just started the surgery and that they had problems at the start on getting the bypass going. But that everything is going fine now. And that they will call me after they get done with every stage of the surgery. Well, that made me feel alittle good to know that I will get a call and know what is going on. But then in a way I felt bad that I was going to be answering a phone and not know if the news was going to be good or bad. Well, after each call they said things where good. And then this nun there at the hospital walked in the waiting room and asked the person at the counter for me and she came to me and said that she heard that Mckenzie was having open heart surgery and she asked if we all wanted to join hands and pray. Well, of course I said yes because I already had Mckenzie on every prayer list in the world and another prayer would do more good. So the nun said a very sweet prayer. That just had me and my family in tears. Well, right after that which was about 7 hours from the start of the surgery, the phone next to me rang... Me and my husband ran to it and I picked it up and the nurse said that the surgery was over with and that everything went well and Mckenzie was stable and doing fine. Then I asked a very important question. I asked if they where able to save her pulmonary valve. And she said the music to my ears of yes the was able to save it.. Well, I hung the phone up and just ran to my family that where standing there waiting and I cried out that she was fine that the surgery was over with and she is doing great. We all cried together and then the surgeon called to me at the door and said to come here.

Seeing our baby

And there was my baby.. Of course she was not awake but there was my baby. She was hooked up to things but I didn't care I was just happy to see her. The surgeon said that she has a little fever but that its normal after getting a transfusion and that they where going to take her to her ICU room and that I will be able to go back there is a minute or so. They called me and my husband back and I walked into this little room and there was my baby again. I didn't care that she was hooked up to every thing in the world I just went to her side and sang her song that I have always sang to her since she was born. I touched her hands and then the nurse introduced her self to me and showed me all the stuff that Mckenzie was hooked up on. And what it was for. Well, it was a long day and around 12 that night me and Ron went to our van outside to get away from the hospital waiting room because there was a lot of families in there. And we fell asleep for about 2hours and then we went back up there to the ICU room. When we got there I had noticed that the breathing machine was turned down. The nurse said that the doctor turned it down because Mckenzie was breathing over it already and that they plan on taking her off of it that morning. When she said that I knew that my baby was a fighter and that she was going to make it.After that morning when she was taken off the breathing machine I got to hold her in my lap on a pillow. I cried when the nurse sat her in my lap and even thought she was still knocked out from the meds I was just happy to hold her in my arms. I cried and my step mother was there with me and she cried with me.

Leaving ICU

Mckenzie was sent to a regular room up stairs. But it was a floor for heart patients. It was called the Troy Atman floor.. Before she went up there they had took out IV in her neck and they turned off the oxygen because Mckenzie was showing to have 100% stats. Now when we was in that regular room that was hard. Because she still had her two drain tubes in her chest and one IV. But of course that first night Mckenzie was not liking that she had to stay in that bed and she knocked out the IV. Well, after two hours of them trying to put it back in the heart doctor came in and said that she didn't see any reason for anything to be on Mckenzie because she was doing so good and that she still was leaving in the chest tubes because there was still drainage. So I was happy. We was also able to bring the stroller up there and take her walking around so that she was not stuck in the bed all the time. So we hooked the drain tube thing to the stroller and took her riding around. That next morning the drain tubes was taken out. My husband went back there with them when they took it out because I knew that I could not handle it. They gave Mckenzie some meds to help her relax and not feel the pain.

Going home

Well, on Tuesday that afternoon we took our sweet baby home. I was scared at first because I didn't know if I was going to be able to care for her. I went and picked up her meds and my husband stayed home with her. Two weeks later she saw the surgeon and he was so happy on how well she looked and then a month after the surgery she saw the Cardio doctor and she said that she didn't want to see her for a year. After all of that I felt like I was able to really take a big breath. Because since the day she was born I felt like I was holding my breath.

5 months after the surgery

Now she is almost 11 months old and she is very active and trying to walk and very hard headed!! We now feel like a family and that our lives are complete.

Thank you for letting me take this time to share my thoughts and feelings that I had during the most hardest time of my life and of Mckenize's life.

God bless you all and may all of your prayers be answered.

At Mckenzie's 1 year post surgery Cardiology appointment (April 2001) Mckenzie and Family were told that they "NEVER" had to go back!

Take care, bye,
Stephanie

Copyright(c)2001-Stephanie

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