Help for Hazel - Sorlie Family

Madeline has had a pretty tough pregnancy since the day she found out she was expecting. She struggled with Hyperemesis Gravidarum from the beginning so she was generally sick every day. At 18 weeks, she fell down a flight of stairs, broke her tailbone and was hospitalized for monitoring. Even though she was released then, we’re not sure if that fall had anything to do with the current situation or not. But it seems her struggles got worse from that point.

She would randomly struggle with bouts of high blood pressure and migraines which were unusual for her during pregnancy. Her pain was pretty bad throughout but became pretty severe around 29 weeks. She always thought it was just pregnancy discomfort or round ligament pain, but it had gotten to a point where Madeline was having to hold her lower abdomen and she felt like she was having contractions.

The last weekend in October, Madeline was having “girls weekend” with a few friends and throughout the weekend she remembered some abnormal things and being in a lot of pain. Upon return Sunday, she was pretty sick and the pain had increased.

That next day, she got up for work as usual and tried to make it through her day but she noticed the pain was just not going away. She asked a few coworkers and even a midwife for advice, but she ended up messaging her doctor. One of his nurses called her shortly after and she suggested Madeline get in as soon as possible once Madeline told her she felt like “something was ripping.”

She finished out her work day and headed to the hospital, even though she had questioned going quite a few times: she thought that maybe she was overreacting and she was just having normal pregnancy pains.

At the hospital that Monday, they hooked her up to monitors and did some lab work. Her CDC came back abnormal and her doctor decided to admit her overnight. Tuesday morning was time for more tests and an extensive ultrasound on baby and her abdomen. Out of all the women with placental abruption, the doctor said you can generally only see about 1 out of 100 of them via ultrasound. Dr. Shelton could see Madeline’s clear as day and said her placenta had ripped about 1/3 of the way from her uterus.

Placenta abruption is extremely dangerous. If the placenta was to detach fully from the uterus, the baby would no longer be receiving oxygenation or nutrients and mom would be bleeding internally.

Being that Madeline had ripped 1/3 of the way she was at risk for of course ripping entirely, but also needed to watch for things like contractions, even more severe pain and more bleeding. With the pocket of blood that forms during this, that pocket of blood can potentially “upset” the uterus and start causing contractions. Baby can also be put in distress.

Her doctor had kept her in the hospital 2 additional days to help with pain management and to come up with a plan. On Thursday morning he was planning to release her for bed rest and hoped she could get closer to term before delivering.

Thursday morning, Madeline’s friend showed up to take her home. While waiting for discharge papers and instructions, one of Madeline’s nurses came in the room and asked if she was feeling the contractions that the nurse was seeing on the monitor. Madeline said she wasn’t really sure because she had been having the same sharp pain for the past 2 weeks. Her back was bugging her pretty badly at this point, but she figured it was probably the hospital bed she had been laying in for the past few days. Her nurse said she was uncomfortable letting her leave and paged her doctor. He ordered another CDC and made his way to the room.

However, within a matter of minutes Madeline’s pain was so bad she couldn’t contain the tears and said it felt like her stomach was ripping. Her contractions were now almost constant. Doctor Shelton said she was in active labor and tried to stop contractions. It did not work.

Her doctor, her pediatrician and a team of staff came in to explain what was happening and that they were going to have to perform an emergency C-section. They went over the long list of risks and explained to Madeline and Dakota that she had the best team possible that day, along with the two best infant resuscitators. They had Madeline sign a paper of consent for the risks and they wheeled her downstairs to the OR.

They did not have time to do a spinal block, so Madeline had to be put under general anesthesia and no one was allowed to be in the room with her. Dad did not get to see the birth of Hazel and he didn’t get to cut her cord. Madeline just remembered being so scared and so in shock that she couldn’t even cry. She remembers asking the team to please not let anything happen to the baby.

At 12:43 pm on Thursday, October 29th, Hazel was born at 31 weeks premature after a full placenta abruption. She measured 15 3/4” long and weighed 3 pounds, 5 ounces.

Hazel was intubated and transferred to Gundersen Health Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in LaCrosse while Mom stayed in Winona.

Dad went to be with Hazel, but no one could be with him due to COVID restrictions.

A few hours after Hazel’s arrival, Madeline finally got an update. Hazel was OKAY. She made it safely and was stable.

That is where her NICU journey began.

Madeline was released the next day from Winona Health and her and Dakota have been traveling daily to see Hazel in the NICU.

Hazel is now on day 6 of her NICU journey. She was taken off intubation and is breathing with a CPAP. She has an umbilical line which she receives IV nutrients through and a she has a feeding tube. Her lab levels have fluctuated some, but overall have looked pretty good. She has lost weight and continues to do so. She currently weighs 2 pounds, 13 ounces but the team says she will start gaining weight soon with her increased feedings and the Prolacta calories that are being added to Madeline’s breast milk.

Although Hazel is doing good, she has a long road ahead in the NICU. She has many upcoming labs and tests, scans, ultrasounds, etc. Dakota, Madeline, Harper and Makinley are hopeful to have her home by Christmas, but there is no definite timeline for a NICU baby’s graduation date. She will also have to be seen in a NICU clinic for her first year after “graduation”.

With COVID restrictions, no one is able to see or visit Hazel in the NICU besides Madeline and Dakota. Her older sisters will not get to meet her or hold her until she comes home, but Madeline has been sharing her journey with all of as much as she can on social media.

For now, Madeline and Dakota are doing their best at taking this all day by day.

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The two were not expecting Hazel’s arrival to be so fast or so early. Though they were expecting a work leave for Madeline in January, they were not expecting it now. Madeline does not qualify for FMLA or any sort of paid leave as she has only been a Gundersen employee for a few months.

Unfortunately, the expenses of life don’t stop when you have a child in the NICU. Madeline and Dakota now are also facing the added expenses of travel to LaCrosse daily and the added medical costs that this will add to their list.

No one wants to ask for help, but at a time so hard for them in every other aspect, it would be nice to be able to help them with the financial piece.

Please consider donating to help them on this journey. We understand with the current times and the pandemic that it is not feasible for everyone and prayers and well wishes are also very much appreciated.

Madeline and Dakota are also registered on Amazon and at Target for items for Hazel.

Thank you all so much for reading! Let’s hope that Hazel gets to come home HEALTHY, SOON!