MEET OUR AMBASSADOR - KOEN FAHEY
Koen Dutch Aron Fahey came into this world on October 16, 2015 to much surprise. He wasn't expected to come until right before Thanksgiving, but instead came 5 weeks early. From the beginning my pregnancy was not easy. 'Morning sickness' was rather an 'all day sickness', very draining, and continued throughout each trimester. I had this odd inclination that I should have baby showers and his room ready just in case by October. I guess it was my mothers intuition and that inclination turned out to be true. During my 3rd trimester, when everyone said I would grow larger, I wondered why I was not getting any bigger nor feeing any better. I figured eventually I would get back to some level of normalcy it just wasn't happening. Additionally, the doctor didn't seem too worried about my size, so I trusted his lead. After learning my OB was going to be on vacation around our due date, I decided I wanted to meet some of the other doctors in the practice, in case they would be delivering our baby boy. It was at that office visit some of my concerns began to unfold, we learned our baby boy was only weighing about 3lbs. The baby and I were immediately monitored with an NST, a stress test, and we were set up with an appointment to see a high risk specialist in Sacramento for further testing the following morning. We discovered that day our baby was in fact getting the nutrients correctly however he was measuring small due to an aging, dying placenta that was happening all along. It made sense at that point why I felt like he was 'sucking the life out of me' because he truly was. It was decided that the goal was to make it to 37 weeks at that point and then reevaluate. Low and behold, after not feeling Koen move that next morning I ended up at St. Joseph's hospital and was again monitored all day into the night, even advising us to get comfortable as we would be staying over for additional testing the next morning. An hour after falling asleep, our amazing nurse came in, and said, "Ok Shaina, you ready to do this?!" I was completely caught off guard and asked my husband "Babe, do you hear this?" To much surprise and confusion, once I pulled myself together I realized I wasn't being induced. The nurse told me that the physician and his wife had been monitoring me and the baby from home throughout the day and saw he was in distress. The NST showed when I would have contractions (that I hardly felt) that Koen's heart rate would drop significantly. They were concerned he wouldn't make it to 37 weeks under this amount of strain and felt he would thrive better in the NICU. We got prepped for an emergency c-section and within two hours, Koen was born at 12:32 am, weighing 3lbs 7oz 17 inches. I remembering waiting to hear his cry and then I did, It was the best sound ever! I cried tears of joy. Everything after that was a blur as I was taken away to another room to recover. Though my husband was able to go see our baby boy right away while they were working to get him up to the NICU, one of the hardest parts of my delivery looking back, was not being able to hold him right away. That is part of the dream you play back in your head over and over and to not be able to have that moment and be expected to wait 14 hours before I could go see my baby boy, was really tough. After being nameless for several days, our son Koen, whose name means 'brave' in Dutch, spent the next 4 weeks in the NICU with the amazing doctors and nurses as the roller coaster continued. Early on it was jaundice for a few days, then going through the ups and downs of breastfeeding/ pumping & feeding, all the while shuttling back and forth for visits several times a day and the guilt of leaving him to be cared for by others when we felt that was our job. We quickly became NICU parents with our baby having a lot of the common preemie type scenarios. Two weeks in we got a 5am phone call from a nurse to come see Koen because he was getting put back into the insulated bed. Koen had an SVT, Supraventricular Tachycardia, episode where his heart rate accelerated above 300 beats per minute while sleeping. So after having three of those same episodes, we met with a pediatric cardiologist from UC Davis. We were then explained what SVT was and were recommended medication for Koen to help control the issue so that hopefully he will outgrow it in due time. At that same time, we learned Koen also was struggling with acid reflux, a common preemie condition that made it difficult to not regurgitate the food he just ate. Finally after 4 weeks our prayers were answered and Koen was able to go home, weighing in just under 5 lbs. It did include, a heart monitor that he was to wear 24 hours a day, with cords attached to his chest but at that point we would have done anything to take him home. Koen has made strides and at 7 months, he graduated to life without his monitor but continues to take medication today in hopes to no longer have to have the medicine around his 1 year birthday. He attends Valley Regional center and is excelling cognitively & surprising us with his motor development, standing up and crawling swiftly. He now is 10 months old and is a healthy, somewhat chunky 16lbs. He is such a happy baby and brings joy to so many with his contagious smile & laughter! We thank God everyday for our miracle baby that fought to survive and the amazing nurses and doctors that gave him the best care! We are so honored and grateful to be the Ambassador family this year. The March of Dimes research and dedication to improve the health of babies has a special place in our hearts forever.
