Nicole Gavin’s birth plan was not complicated. “Anything but the NICU,” she remembers thinking.
In December 2018, the Inver Grove Heights mom was nearly 33 weeks into a healthy pregnancy when doctors found something alarming on a routine ultrasound: fluid was building up inside the baby’s body, signaling an urgent, life-threatening condition. As doctors prepared Nicole for an emergency c-section, they also prepared her for the worst. Her baby would likely not survive.
McKenna Jean was born minutes later. She was seven weeks premature, not breathing, and severely swollen from the fluid buildup. Doctors rushed the baby to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Children’s Minnesota in St. Paul. The swelling, a condition called hydrops fetalis, is often fatal. And it’s a sign of something more serious going on in the body.
That more serious issue, doctors discovered, was a congenital chylothorax, a rare condition in which lymphatic fluid leaks into the space between the lung and chest wall. Treatment usually consists of surgery. McKenna would need not just one but three surgeries, along with round-the-clock care to help her breathe, eat and grow.
Photography provided by Children’s
For nearly six months, the NICU was a second home for Nicole, her husband Mike and older daughter Fiona. The team at Children’s Minnesota rallied around the family to help them cope with their baby’s crisis. “Our three primary nurses, I’ll never forget them. If I hadn’t had them, it would’ve been a different story. They gave me peace of mind when I couldn’t be there. You trust these people with your pride and joy.”
Baby McKenna received neonatal massages and daily music therapy from the specialists on staff at Children’s Minnesota. “The music always calmed her. We would watch the heart rate monitor when the therapist would play, and you could see by the numbers, she was calming down. It’s amazing.”
After months of intensive medical care and TLC, McKenna graduated from the NICU. It was bittersweet for her mom. “It was a crazy, emotional day. You get attached to all these people who care for your child, and they’re all coming in to say goodbye.”
Today McKenna is happy at home. While she is still catching up after so many months in survival mode, her future is bright. Doctors expect her to live a long, healthy life, free of complications from the hydrops fetalis and chylothorax. And even though the NICU was the last place Nicole wanted to be, she’s grateful for the care — medical and otherwise — that surrounded her family when they needed it most.
Neonatology is the focus of this year’s Children’s Star Gala, the premier black-tie fundraiser for Children’s Minnesota. For nearly 30 years, the philanthropic community in the Twin Cities has come together to raise millions of dollars for the nonprofit, which relies on generous donors to make possible a kids-first brand of health care. This year’s gala is taking place on April 18 at the Historic Milwaukee Road Depot in downtown Minneapolis.
