Saving Celise

It has taken me a few days to write this update, as if not putting it to words would somehow make it not true. 

Early Monday morning, Celise went into distress. We spoke with the PICU doctor at about 1am who told us they were having trouble with her heart rate and blood pressure, and that he was concerned. Not long after, she began to rapidly deteriorate and her nurse told us we needed to come to the hospital quickly. When we arrived they were barely able to keep her heart rate up, even with every code medication available given to her every two minutes. They even reached out to her doctors at MUSC to see if there was anything they missed, but there was nothing else they could do. After everything she’d been through her heart was just too damaged to pull through this episode.

The doctors started chest compressions, but at this point her brain had been deprived of oxygen for so long, and her heart was so weak. Our baby girl was already gone. They stopped compressions, and placed her in my arms. I held her as her heartbeat slowed to a stop. Her nurses removed her tape and tubes, and we finally got to see her whole face, unobstructed.

She was so beautiful. 

She was our dream come true. 

I hope she knew how much we love her. 

***

Thank you to everyone who has followed along on our journey and reached out. We are grateful for your kind words, and that you are thinking about our sweet baby. As you can imagine, Dillon and I need some time to pick up the pieces and find a way to move on. I’m so appreciative to have him by my side as we navigate this new reality. 

This will likely be our last update. Once again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.