Honor Riley's Legacy: Help St. Francis NICU

Our first daughter, Riley Elizabeth Davis, was born on her due date of February 11, 2015, at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital. Nick and I were thrilled when we first found out I was pregnant! Other than some intense morning sickness in the first trimester, my pregnancy with Riley was simple and perfect, but her delivery was complicated and traumatizing. During my labor with Riley, I came down with an infection and high fever, and towards the end of labor, her heart rate dropped. When Riley was born, she wasn’t crying or breathing. The NICU staff and doctors went to work on her right away, starting CPR and clearing up her lungs. It took them 20 minutes to get her heart beating again, and she had to be put on life support because she wasn’t breathing on her own.

Riley was transferred from St. Francis Hospital to another Bon Secours hospital with a higher-ranking NICU that could potentially provide her a life-saving treatment. The treatment would cool her body temperature to hopefully prevent, or minimize, the damage to her vital organs, especially her brain. Treatment was 72 hours, and she was supposed to wake up as they raised her body temperature. Her first set of MRIs taken right after the treatment finished showed minimal brain damage. But, after a few days of her not waking up, they did another round of MRIs, and that’s where they saw the severity of the damage. There was no brain activity in our Riley. Unfortunately, Riley never woke up, she never breathed on her own, she never opened her eyes, she never cried, and she never nursed (as a mother, this hit me hard. My body knew she was born but didn’t know she would never wake). Towards the end, her organs started failing, and her heart rate got sporadic. After about 14 days, she was declared brain dead, and we had to make the most difficult decision of our lives, take her off life support and let her go to Heaven where she would be at peace. Dead is still a term I refuse to use for Riley leaving earth. It seems harsh and unfair. She peacefully passed away as she only knew tremendous love and was always surrounded by loved ones.

We spent 17 days in the NICU with Riley. During her time in the NICU, we were all treated like family. Riley was baptized, she was given baths, we were given so many mementos, and she had a beautiful service in a private room with our close friends and family. Even though we had all of this, it still didn’t make up for the fact we were going home empty-handed, without our daughter, but having the love and support from the hospital staff eased the pain a little bit.

A lot of grieving, pain, and healing has happened since Riley’s birth and passing in February 2015. Nick and I have welcomed two other beautiful daughters, Charlotte (8) and Madelyn (4), into the world, both of whom were delivered at Bon Secours hospitals. Charlotte was born at St. Mary’s Hospital, and Madelyn was born at St. Francis. Prior to their deliveries, my OB and the Bon Secours staff would go above and beyond to make sure I felt at ease with delivery again. During Madelyn’s delivery, a nurse I hadn’t seen since Riley’s passing was in the delivery room during Maddie’s delivery, and we knew it was Riley sending us a sign that everything would be okay. Since Riley’s passing, we have learned to look at the blessings even when there is still pain with losing her. We were lucky to have 17 days with her to build memories. Our girls also know Riley as their big sister guardian angel, where they pray to her nightly. We are very open and honest with the girls on what happened to Riley and how lucky they still are to have a big sister guardian angel.

I have always wanted to do something meaningful with Riley’s life and put her life towards good. To honor Riley’s 10th birthday on February 11, we would love to support and host a fundraiser for St. Francis NICU’s Greatest Needs fund where they can use the funds to continue upgrading their NICU and provide support to NICU families for years to come. Thank you for reading our story and providing support to Bon Secours St. Francis’ NICU in honor of our late daughter, Riley.