I first meet Nas and her family when I took her bump photographs with her husband and two children. The family was eagerly awaiting the birth of the third child. After our session I expected to hear from Nas as planned in a couple weeks when her daughter was born. The due date came and went and I had not heard from Nas. When I finally got a hold of her she told me we would need to wait on the newborn session because her daughter was in the hospital. It wasn’t until we sat down to do her newborn photos that I got the full story of what happened. After hearing all the details I asked Nas if I could share her story so that maybe someone else would read it and not have to go through what they did. I felt it would be best told from Nas directly……..this is a mothers story on how the they almost lost their little baby daughter. The following is Nas’s story:
Elika
Breeze is our last little baby, our missing puzzle piece. When I was pregnant
with this little angel, I had my standard Group B Strep test and it came back
negative. I had been positive with my last two children, and thought it was
strange that I was negative this time. I was reassured that it happens, and as
most women are, was oblivious to how volatile Group B Strep can be.
When I first met my little girl, she took my breathe away. It was in the first 12 hours that I noticed something wasn’t right. She was lethargic, coughing excessively, and not nursing, and this put me at high alert. Though I mentioned it to the nurse they stated nothing was wrong. We were discharged and 24 hours later the sinking feeling in my stomach just wouldn’t go away. I rushed her to the ER where they said she seemed dehydrated but otherwise fine. I was still not satisfied so I took her to the pediatrician’s office, where they also told me she was fine. My mother’s intuition just wouldn’t let it go, so my husband and I drove her to CHOC of Orange. Twelve hours after having been admitted, they did an MRI and found that our 4 day old daughter had suffered a stroke.
My heart sunk, how could this have happened.
The next 48 hours were a blur…we were told that it would take a MIRACLE for
our daughter to survive. They believed she was suffering from a rare, and
incurable metabolic disorder. I remember looking at my husband and saying
“if it’s going to take a miracle, we better start praying.” I can
definitively say that our faith lit the way. We reached out to EVERYONE and
asked them to pray for our little girl. We weren’t ready to give up, we weren’t
ready to tell our two other children that they may never see their little
sister again. Two days after she was admitted, we got the call, our sweet
little angel had Group B Meningitis.
The next 48 hours were a blur…we were told that it would take a MIRACLE for
our daughter to survive. They believed she was suffering from a rare, and
incurable metabolic disorder. I remember looking at my husband and saying
“if it’s going to take a miracle, we better start praying.” I can
definitively say that our faith lit the way. We reached out to EVERYONE and
asked them to pray for our little girl. We weren’t ready to give up, we weren’t
ready to tell our two other children that they may never see their little
sister again. Two days after she was admitted, we got the call, our sweet
little angel had Group B Meningitis.
My heart sunk, how could this have happened.
The next 48 hours were a blur…we were told that it would take a MIRACLE for
our daughter to survive. They believed she was suffering from a rare, and
incurable metabolic disorder. I remember looking at my husband and saying
“if it’s going to take a miracle, we better start praying.” I can
definitively say that our faith lit the way. We reached out to EVERYONE and
asked them to pray for our little girl. We weren’t ready to give up, we weren’t
ready to tell our two other children that they may never see their little
sister again. Two days after she was admitted, we got the call, our sweet
little angel had Group B Meningitis. When she got home, she just got stronger, and since then has continued to defy all odds. At 2 months old, she is smiling, nursing like a champ, and even rolling over.
The next 48 hours were a blur…we were told that it would take a MIRACLE for
our daughter to survive. They believed she was suffering from a rare, and
incurable metabolic disorder. I remember looking at my husband and saying
“if it’s going to take a miracle, we better start praying.” I can
definitively say that our faith lit the way. We reached out to EVERYONE and
asked them to pray for our little girl. We weren’t ready to give up, we weren’t
ready to tell our two other children that they may never see their little
sister again. Two days after she was admitted, we got the call, our sweet
little angel had Group B Meningitis. When she got home, she just got stronger, and since then has continued to defy all odds. At 2 months old, she is smiling, nursing like a champ, and even rolling over.
The reality is though,
this could have ALL been prevented. I didn’t know what Group B could do. Not
only did my daughter contract meningitis because of it, I was also hospitalized
during this whole thing because I contracted a Group B infection in my blood.
Thank God I only had to spend 2 days in the hospital, and was sent home and was
able to administer IV antibiotics from home. I know God had a plan for us, but
to everyone out there, if you are positive for Group B with one of your
children PLEASE PLEASE ask the doctor to give you antibiotics with any other
children, even if the test comes back negative. What I have learned from
Infectious Disease doctors is that you can be recolonized with this at ANY
time. So even though you may be negative at the time of the test, you can become
positive before the baby is born!
this could have ALL been prevented. I didn’t know what Group B could do. Not
only did my daughter contract meningitis because of it, I was also hospitalized
during this whole thing because I contracted a Group B infection in my blood.
Thank God I only had to spend 2 days in the hospital, and was sent home and was
able to administer IV antibiotics from home. I know God had a plan for us, but
to everyone out there, if you are positive for Group B with one of your
children PLEASE PLEASE ask the doctor to give you antibiotics with any other
children, even if the test comes back negative. What I have learned from
Infectious Disease doctors is that you can be recolonized with this at ANY
time. So even though you may be negative at the time of the test, you can become
positive before the baby is born!
