Baby Harmonys fight against CMV
Donation protected
On Monday 17th April at 23:28pm a precious baby girl Harmony Stubbs was born via emergency caesarean weighing 4lb 6oz at 33 weeks gestation to new parents Shauna & Nick.
Within minutes Doctors could see that Harmony’s newborn apgar scores were low and she needed help breathing. Soon after she developed and we were told her platelets (a blood product involved clotting) were at 18,000, a normal range for them is 150,000 – 450,000. Low platelets can be life threatening.
A flight was organized to transfer Harmony to the NICU at Royal Hobart Hospital. She arrived in Hobart at 6am without her mum and dad.
It was late Tuesday night that Doctors confirmed Harmony had contracted a virus in utero called CMV. The virus is extremely common in children. CMV occurs when the infection is passed across the placenta from a pregnant woman to her developing baby. The virus is not dangerous to anyone that catches it but can be devastating to a baby.
Nothing could prepare these new parents to hear that their baby could have minor complications such as hearing or vision loss, to the more severe like brain damage or cerebral palsy. The Doctors are waiting until Harmony is more stable to give her a MRI scan to see what her diagnosis will be.
All our families are trying to help them in anyway necessary, the financial burden is inevitable. Nick and Shauna will be at the Ronald McDonald house anywhere from 1-6 months depending on Harmony’s progress. While we don’t have many answers right now, we do have hope and faith which is getting Shauna & Nick and our families through this difficult time.
Even if a donation is not possible, a prayer for our little fighter is appreciated!
Thank you for reading and I will continue to post updates as we receive them on her condition.
Within minutes Doctors could see that Harmony’s newborn apgar scores were low and she needed help breathing. Soon after she developed and we were told her platelets (a blood product involved clotting) were at 18,000, a normal range for them is 150,000 – 450,000. Low platelets can be life threatening.
A flight was organized to transfer Harmony to the NICU at Royal Hobart Hospital. She arrived in Hobart at 6am without her mum and dad.
It was late Tuesday night that Doctors confirmed Harmony had contracted a virus in utero called CMV. The virus is extremely common in children. CMV occurs when the infection is passed across the placenta from a pregnant woman to her developing baby. The virus is not dangerous to anyone that catches it but can be devastating to a baby.
Nothing could prepare these new parents to hear that their baby could have minor complications such as hearing or vision loss, to the more severe like brain damage or cerebral palsy. The Doctors are waiting until Harmony is more stable to give her a MRI scan to see what her diagnosis will be.
All our families are trying to help them in anyway necessary, the financial burden is inevitable. Nick and Shauna will be at the Ronald McDonald house anywhere from 1-6 months depending on Harmony’s progress. While we don’t have many answers right now, we do have hope and faith which is getting Shauna & Nick and our families through this difficult time.
Even if a donation is not possible, a prayer for our little fighter is appreciated!
Thank you for reading and I will continue to post updates as we receive them on her condition.
Organizer
Anita Hardy
Organizer
Wivenhoe TAS
