Our sweet 7 week old daughter Gracelyn was admitted to the Fort Dodge Pediatric Unit on Friday 11/5/21, after testing positive for RSV. A respiratory virus that can be very serious for infants Gracelyns age. She was having severe chest retractions and a bad cough. Her little body was working very hard to breathe. She was put on oxygen right away to give her some relief. Gracelyn’s first night on the Pediatric floor was very traumatic. My poor baby suffered a severe IV infiltration that went unnoticed for over 7 hours! An IV infiltration happens when the IV slips out of the vein and the fluid is pumped in the surrounding area. Yes this does happen in infants because their veins are small HOWEVER Gracelyns IV site was not checked for over 7 hours making it so severe. I held my screaming baby, while I expressed to the nurse that she was in pain. My cry for help was disregarded and I was told she was fussy because “this isn’t her normal routine.” I expressed how I believed her iv was hurting her, because that’s when she began to be inconsolable. Again my cry for help was disregarded because “the IV should be fine”. The nurse on that shift failed my baby, she failed to do her job, she failed to listen to a very concerned mom, a mom who KNOWS her baby. Gracelyn suffered what they would consider 3rd degree burns on the top of her entire little foot. The fluid had no where to go, leading it to split her skin wide open.

I made a decision to stay in the Fort Dodge Pediatric Unit, as I was promised she would receive the best help. I was reassured the hospital was taking full blame, and were going to make sure that was never going to happen to another baby. I was able to talk to the hospital Director of Nurses and Hospital Administrator and was reassured they would do everything in their power to help. I also had to think about my son at home, who also needs his mom as he battles with RSV. I was confident she would be taken care of.

As far as her respiratory virus, she was declining all of Saturday, they had to up her oxygen all day. And was maxed out by the evening. Again this is common for RSV patients to get worse before they get better. A decision was made Saturday night to put her on a BiPAP Machine, a machine that would essentially push air through her nose to expand her airways for her. She had a restful night. However Sunday morning she began to have severe chest retractions and a bad wet cough again. They made a decision to transfer her because they no longer had the capability to care for her needs. Gracelyn did not have another IV inserted after her first infiltrated. The life flight team was not comfortable transporting her without one. After they had two failed attempts at getting on inserted, they decided an OI was appropriate at that time. An OI is l an IV inserted in the bone of her leg. Again a very traumatic procedure. After they successfully inserted an OI she began to have a seizure. She continued to have a seizure for almost 10 minutes. They were able to get her out of the seizure, but had to sedate and incubate her. She was put on life support. As they were unsure how severe the damage from her seizure would be.

Seizures are NOT common with babies with RSV especially a baby who has been extremely healthy since birth. Seizures are common with infections. They can not rule out her lesion on her foot having an effect or being a variable in the cause of her seizure.

Gracelyn is now in at PICU in Des Moines and will remain on life support until she improves. As of right now she is doing great all things considered. She is hooked up to monitors to monitor her brain activity to ensure she isn’t having any seizure activity. There isn’t very many answers right now. They are working hard to determine cause of her seizure. They are also doing everything they can to ease all of her symptoms that come with RSV.

We are asking the community to help with expenses, as she will be here for awhile. This was our last resort, but we are just a little stuck because we aren’t able to work right now. We also have a 16 month old son who needs his parents as well, so there will be plenty of traveling back and forth. We are so so grateful for support we have already received, and we want to thank EVERYONE who have reached out to say a prayer or just letting us know they are there for us. ❤️ My baby girl is so loved by so many, and I have so much faith she’ll pull through ❤️

Again I would just like to say thank everyone, from the bottom of my heart for all the positive things being commented on my posts. Thanks to everyone who have shared her story! I truly am grateful for the support we’ve received! ❤️