Reedell, Angela

[left:c186b2e77f]http://www.cherubs-cdh.org/Album/new/reedell-angela3.jpg[/left:c186b2e77f]Our “wild ride” started in mid-October of 2004. We had planned on “trying” to get pregnant after we got back from a trip to Holland, and oops… we got pregnant while there. We were beyond happy, since it only took 5 days to get pregnant. Now I live by the idea that getting pregnant was the easy part!!! We went on a trip to Punta Cana and I read the “what to expect when you are expecting book”… so I had some sort of clue what I was in for. I really had NO clue… but we were ready for an adventure… to meet our baby!!

My pregnancy was tough from day 1. I was feeling morning, noon, and nightly sickness ever since week 6 and it didn’t get any better. I had a subchornic hemmorage at 9 weeks, thought I was having a miscarriage, then didn’t, and then at my 20 week routine ultrasound appointment, I was told that “we think there is something wrong with the baby’s head… you need to go see a specialist”. It turns out that our little girl’s head was fine. But luckily they did send me for a level 2 ultrasound. My baby was active at all times of the day, so they checked everything out and she looked good. They said the heart looked good, but they couldn’t get a feel for it’s exact location, but they said to not worry, we would take another look and see what was going on. So, two weeks later I went back, and they said the heart looked perfect, but it was being “pushed” by some other “organ” out of it’s perfect position and they couldn’t tell what was doing it. They told me that I was going to see the surgeons and specialists at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. I was scared beyond belief.

About 2 weeks later I was in the MRI machine, having numerous tests, fetal echocardiogram, more ultrasounds, and numerous meetings with counselors, social workers, surgeons, you name it, we talked to them. They gave us the facts at the end of a long day, our little girl was going to be born with CDH. They said her condition was VERY favorable, and everything looked great. The only organ that had “migrated” was part of her intestine, and they confident that she would have a nice recovery. Of course they told us about the fact that she would be on a vent and would have a tough road ahead of her, but we knew she was a fighter and would make it through well.

The next few days were tough. I was upset, but after talking to other parents whom have been through it, I began to feel better. We toured the NICU, and got aqainted to where Angela would spend her first few weeks of life. With every appointment we felt better because she was growing and moving and the docs were sooo confident. We just couldn’t wait to meet our little princess. I also couldn’t wait to not be pregnant. I was sooo sick for the entire pregnancy that I only gained 14 pounds at the time of her birth. It wasn’t fun, but I’d do it all over for her in a second!!

At 37 weeks pregnant, my ultrasound showed that Angela was in a breech position… and they said they would not attempt to turn her, so we scheduled a c-section for June 15th, 2005. I was ready for it. I had finished up work on the 9th of June and figured I had a few days to “prepare” for her arrival.

To our surprise, on June 12th, at around 10pm… my water had broke. I called the hospital, and of course they said for me to come in, they’d have to “gather” all of the medical staff that was required, and then I’d have my little girl. I was sooo ready to have her. We arrived right around midnight – so much for a planned c-section. They confirmed labor, had one last ultrasound, and off to Labor and Delivery. My husband, my mom, and my sister were by my side. I even got to watch Back to the Future, Part 2! I wasn’t in a lot of pain, and I was already dialating, but she was breech, so off to the c-section I went.

On June 13th, 2005 at 4:26am, Angela Kirstin Reedell was born at 6lbs 10oz and 20.5” in length. I knew I wouldn’t hear anything or see her, but luckily my hubby watched the whole surgery, watched her being pulled out (butt first), and then after they got her stabilized he took some pictures. He brought back the camera and I just wanted to stare at it. I couldn’t believe she was here.

Back in my recovery room, I was talking about everything that had happened and just couldn’t wait to see my precious little angel. We named her Angela Kirstin because it means “Angela of Christ”… we fell in love with the name… and it was perfect when we saw her little perfect face.

About 8 hours after my surgery, I was taken over to see Miss Angela for the first time. I had given birth at the University of Pennsylvania and Angela was at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. They work together on many high risk cases, and are actually linked underground. The moment I saw my daughter I fell in love! She was the most precious little person… even with all the tubes and wires. She had to be restrained (both arms and legs) soon after birth because she was pulling all the wires off. It was incredible… she was a fighter from the moment she was born.

The next day I was feeling better and walked over to see her in the NICU. Angela was in a room with only CDH babies… so we knew we weren’t alone. She was doing well. She was totally stabilized and the surgeon told us she was ready to have surgery on Wednesday morning. Wednesday was hard because all we could do was wait. It was about 2 hours, and the docs came out with great news. The surgery went perfectly, she was recovering nicely and they had high hopes for our little girl. Now the hard part would be for her to recover from the surgery, learn to feed from a bottle, and be weaned off the morphine. Each day got a bit better and wires and tubes were removed. I was discharged on Friday, and it was tough to leave her, but I knew she was in the best care possible and that she would be home soon. We had to stay strong… for all of us!!

Finally we were able to hold Angela at 5 days old (Saturday). It was incredible to hold our little bundle of joy… even with the tubes, but we were making progress. Sunday was father’s day… and our present was that they removed her ventilator. We heard the first raspy cry ever… it never sounded soo sweet. The nurses all sort of chuckled and said “it is a nice sound now… we’ll call you in about 6 months and ask what you think….”. We chuckled… it was a joyous day!!! It was a great first father’s day for Scott.

Each day she grew stronger, started taking breastmilk from a bottle, and they were weaning her from oxygen. She was going through all of her x-rays, was off morphine, and passing tests left and right. We were told that she would be able to go home soon. She was only 16 days old and they said “she can go home tomorrow”… we were BEYOND elated!!! The last test was the PFT’s… and they had to be the day before discharge. According to her pulmonologist she had 77% lung capacity at 17 days old… which is great for a CDH baby. She still had an NG tube in, but we mostly fed her by mouth. They said that many times babies eat better when they are home… we were hopeful.

On June 30th, at 17 days old, we arrived at our house at 11am. Both Scott and I looked down at Angela in her carseat and said “what do we do now”? We were first time parents, she was almost 3 weeks old, and this was the first time we have had to be responsible for this little person. It was a fun time. Angela pulled out her NG tube the night she got home… and hasn’t had any troubles since then. She has done great.

Today our little girl is over 1 year old. She has astounded all of her doctors with her recovery. She walked at 8 months old, she finally crawled at 9.5 months old, has the energy of about 10 toddlers, and is learning new things every single day. She for all intensive purposes is a perfect little 1 year old.

We would like to thank every one of our friends, family, doctors, and people who were support to us. We count ourselves as blessed every moment of the day for Angela's great recovery... and hope that someday they can find the cause of this defect and prevent it from happening to any other children.


Written by Angel’s mom, Megan Reedell (Pennsylvania)
2006