My name is Katina Rees and my husband is Chris Rees. On Sunday July 15, 2018 at 5:05pm I gave birth to the most beautiful little girl in the world, Keely Lynn Rees. She weighed in at 7lbs 9oz and was 19.68 inches long. I had a very long, hard, and strenuous labor and after pushing for 4.5 hours, she finally entered this world. Unfortunately during her exit, she was injured, the doctors referred to it as a traumatic birth injury. She was placed on my chest for about a minute and then she was rushed to Shands NICU, where she still remains.
After countless tests, labs, MRI’S etc, the doctors found multiple bleeds in Keely’s brain, which caused a mini stroke and multiple seizures. When I saw my baby girl for the 1st time after delivery, she was hooked up to everything imaginable. She had an EEG on her head (checking for more seizure activity), she was intubated, she had a feeding tube, a catheter, she was on seizure meds, and she was wrapped in thermocare. It was the most heartbreaking thing for a 1st time mother and father to see. As each day went on Keely got stronger, and one by one, tubes and wires came off. Keely hasn’t had any more seizures since birth, but will have to be on seizure meds for the 1st few years of her life.
Once most of the wires and tubes came off, Keely was moved to the more stable NICU, but she still requires a feeding tube through her nose. Unfortunately Keely’s breathing became very labored during one of her check ups, so the doctors preformed an ECHO on her heart. To our surprise and shock, the cardiologist found a heart defect, which had nothing to do with her traumatic birth injury. Keely was born with VSD, ventricular septal defect, a heart defect due to an abnormal connection between the lower chambers of the heart (ventricles). Once Keely is stronger and has gained enough weight, she will need to undergo open heart surgery, which will most likely happen when she’s 3-6 months old.
Keely remains in Shands NICU, and because she hasn’t mastered the art of sucking, she will need a gtube (a tube inserted through the abdomen that delivers nutrition directly to the stomach) before we’re able to take her home. We don’t have a discharge date yet, but we hope and pray she will be home with us in the next few weeks. Once Keely is home she has a long road to recovery. She will be followed by neurology and cardiology, she will be going to occupational and physical therapy, to make sure she’s reaching her developmental mile stones. Keely is so strong and such a fighter, she has come so far in just a little amount of time! My husband and I would have never thought in a million years this would be our new normal, but Keely is our miracle baby and we will do whatever it takes to help her heal. I’ve always been told, you don’t know what true love is until you have a baby, boy were they right. We love Keely with all of our heart!!
We have already received so much love, support, and prayers from friends and family. We just ask all of you to continue to keep Keely in your thoughts and prayers. She’s a warrior and we’re confident she will make it out of this!
