Sweet Baby Caroline

(For the beginning of the story, scroll to the italicized part)

Hello again! I wanted to give an update here on my precious niece, Caroline, and give some explanation as to why I’ve decided to increase the fundraising goal.

Sweet Baby Caroline is now 3 and a half months old and has just stolen our hearts completely!

After a rough start at life, Caroline was able to come home after spending over the first month of her life in the NICU. We were truly blessed to be able to have her home with us all at Christmas!

Ever since she has come home she’s had 2-3 Dr appointments weekly! That’s a lot of appointments for such a little person!

Everything was going as well as could be expected and Caroline was making great strides until the beginning of February, 2023.

Caroline began running a high fever and after 3 trips to the pediatrician and 2 trips to the ER over the course of a week and a half she began showing signs of swelling in her soft spot.

She was admitted into the PICU unit on Feb. 8, 2023 at Children’s Hospital in Chattanooga, TN. She was an extremely sick baby girl!

The amount of fluid on her brain was grave and time was not on her side. Thankfully, the Dr. recognized the seriousness and took her to surgery immediately to place a drain in.

As of March 2, 2023 Caroline is still in the PICU and has had 2 surgeries on her brain for an abscess and is looking to have one more to place a shunt.

Her mommy and daddy haven’t left her side and while that is understandable, the bills are left piling up. Loss of income is stressful by itself, but add a child who has special medical needs makes it even more stressful.

We are so, so blessed by the ones who have given so far and can’t possibly thank you enough.

If anything at all, please keep Caroline and her parents in your prayers!

****Hello! My name is Jenny Mann and I would like to introduce you to my niece! Caroline Elizabeth Rose Wootten was born on November 14, 2022 and she is nothing short of a miracle! She is the daughter of Aaron Wootten, my brother, and his wife, Sarah.

Aaron and Sarah have been married for 7 years and always wanted a family, but things never seemed to work out for them….until the beginning of 2022.

Sarah found out she was expecting in March and everyone, especially Aaron, was so excited for them. We were all cautiously optimistic since Sarah has been a diabetic almost her entire life.

Sarah had a completely normal and healthy pregnancy. So the delivery and what would come next took us all by surprise.

Sarah was scheduled to be induced Monday evening (11-14-22) and we all figured it’d take a while….. you know how first time babies go.

Aaron and Sarah arrived at the hospital at 4pm est and they began getting her settled in and all hooked up. The nurses were monitoring Baby Caroline’s fetal movements and heart rhythms and let Aaron and Sarah know that Dr. Harnsberger would be in shortly to talk with them and it was very likely there would be a C-section performed.

(The induction had not begun and no medication had been given.)

When Dr. H came in, he was in the process of explaining that he had concern that Baby Caroline wasn’t showing trends (fetal movements and fluctuating heartbeat) that he liked to see and that he felt they needed to do a c-Section. Initially the c-section wouldn’t be emergent, but would be urgent. However, as he was talking Baby Caroline’s heartbeat diminished. Sarah was immediately taken for an EMERGENCY c-Section. No time to prepare, no time to stop and think, no time for anything.

When Baby Caroline was born she didn’t have a heartbeat and was not breathing. The medical team was forced to take life saving measures and they worked on her tirelessly for an extended period of time.

They were able to get a heartbeat back and she was rushed to the NICU.

All the while, Aaron is wondering what is going on and can’t seem to get any answers. It was a very scary time.

Once Caroline was stabilized, she was transferred to Erlanger NICU for specialized care. The next 72 hours would be critical.

Sarah did well from the surgery, but wouldn’t know the severity of the situation until later on.

Fast forward to (11-16-22)

Here’s what we knew about Baby Caroline.

*she did sustain brain damage from lack of oxygen, but we won’t know the extent of the damage until tests can be performed sometime after Friday.

*her heart is beating on its own!

she has a small narrowing in her aorta, but that is not at the top of the priority list at this time and that can be managed later on.

*she is intubated and that is allowing her body to rest and heal.

*she is in a special “cooling bed” that keeps her body around 91 degrees. that is to help promote healing. she will be in this special bed for 48 more hours

As of today (11-17-22) Caroline has shown small glimmers of hope, but is nowhere near the end of the tunnel. She still needs a miracle and we’re asking God for just that!

I decided to set up a go-fund-me for Aaron and Sarah to help alleviate some of the financial burden that is being placed on them. Aaron works for the family business and farms and Sarah is a Massage Therapist. Neither of these careers offer an income when you’re out of work.

Regardless of if you’re able to give or not, we ask for your prayers!