Kennedy Ren Forsythe – Part 6 ~ A Day of Rest

October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness month.  Unfortunately, many of our heart families walk this impossible road.  Help-A-Heart wanted to share the story of one of our heart angel families this month to help raise awareness.  Thank you to Nate & Emily Forsythe for writing & sharing the story of their precious daughter, Kennedy Ren Forsythe.  Nate & Emily are the proud parents of Kennedy & Oliver (age 1).  This is Part 6 of 11.

A Day of Rest

February 18, 2016 – the day after the arterial switch.  Nate and I had left the hospital around 3:00 in the morning.  We took a short nap, showered and changed.  It was 6:45 in the morning and we are back in her room.  Doctor Rounds are at 7:00.

There’s a new team in Kennedy’s room.  She’s covered in a blanket – pink with white polka dots.  Wires, leads, tubes everywhere.  She’s sleeping, obviously.  From now on she will never be alone.  There is one person dedicated to running ECMO – not only is it pumping her heart for her, she is now on dialysis, which ECMO is also supporting.  She’s been given enough paralytic to bring down a grown man – her chest is open and she has external tubes that we can’t risk being moved by a squirmy baby.  Dialysis is helping to rid her body of all of the excess fluid, so she doesn’t get too puffy and swollen.

She looks peaceful.

They tell us that they’re not going to do anything big with her today – she needs to rest, her body has been through a lot.  They will balance her meds.  The neurologists will be around today to add some monitors to her head to make sure she isn’t having seizures.  Otherwise, she will rest.

I don’t know that we really relaxed at all that day – really at all for the rest of her short life—but for a moment it was okay that she was quiet and stable.

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