The Story of Brooks Kelsey Smith

In early September I realized my pregnancy would not go as Brian and I had planned. My water broke at 16 weeks and nothing could be done to fix it. My doctor put me on strict bed rest so that I could make it to 24 weeks gestation. Through lots of prayer, faith, and support from family and friends I made it to October 5, 2010. With a bag packed, we headed to UAB’s high-risk pregnancy facility. Doctors and nurses took care of me constantly. It was a joy and relief to be able to hear my baby’s heart beat every four hours. The doctors’ plan was for me to make it to 34 weeks gestation, God had another plan. Nearly three weeks later I went into premature labor. They tried for three days to stop the labor. I will not deny that those days were some of the scariest days I have faced in my life, but I felt the presence and peace of God when I needed it most.

On October 25, 2010 at 1:12 p.m., exactly six months gestation, God blessed Brian and I with a baby boy. He fought to breathe right away. Brooks was on a ventilator for less than twenty-four hours! The doctors keep referring to him as a rock star; I called him my little miracle. As the days passed by we realized that even though Brooks was a thriving little boy, he was going to be in the hospital for several months. I spoke with my doctor three weeks after delivery and decided it was best to return to work. Brooks was born with small lungs, even small for his age, due to my water breaking so early. With Brooks’ prognosis we knew that I would need the left over maternity time to stay at home with him when he was released. 

Brooks went from being on the CPAP for breathing to a nasal canula. They let him go to a crib rather than the islet. Even more, he was able to start wearing clothes.  He was starting to look and feel like a real boy! After removing the CPAP, we found out that he had dimples in both cheeks!! On Christmas Eve Brooks had to have a blood transfusion and we found out that he had an infection. Seeing him hurt was very difficult. The infection set him back, he had just begun to eat and then he had to go back on a feeding tube.

Slowly he came back around and they started talking to us about discharge possibilities. I was on cloud nine!! Finally, I would get to bring my baby home. We were transferred to the 2^nd floor, which is considered continuing care. Brooks started taking a few bottles a day. Then suddenly he not only had another infection, but kidney stones also. He is a mild mannered baby, so it was pitiful to hear him crying because he was in so much pain. They transferred him back upstairs to the RNICU. After about a week he got over the infection and his breathing started getting stronger again.

In the first part of February, we took another trip downstairs to the continuing care facility. Brooks bounced back quickly. He began taking bottles for all of his feeds. He started being more alert and staying awake for much longer periods. On February 12, we brought a mobile to the hospital so that he could play and have more stimulation. He loved the mobile! That night I received a call from my nurse. She said that she was taking Brooks back upstairs because his oxygen levels where too high. Not long after I received another call stating that he would have to go back on CPAP because they could not get him stabilized on the nasal canula. Then they called back to say that he needed to go back on the ventilator. Brian and I headed nervously to the hospital.

When we got to his room he was a very sick little boy. The doctor said, “I’m not going to sugar coat it, he is very sick and the next few days will be crucial for his survival”.  Over the next several hours we found out that Brooks had pulmonary hypertension, his heart was enlarged, his lungs were worse than we thought, he had an ear infection, and he had a respiratory infection. So we did the only thing that we could, we prayed and prayed. All I could hear was doom and gloom. Brian keep the faith and reassured me that God had a plan.

Brooks had to have several days of a Nitric Oxide treatment, UAB is one of only one hundred hospitals that can administer this treatment. He was on so much medication. He had two antibiotics, steroids, two different sedatives, Viagra (originally for pulmonary hypertension), and potassium. Those are just the ones I can remember. Brooks had to have another blood transfusion. He had  several IVs and an arterial line (to check his blood pressure constantly).  The cardiologist ran an echocardiogram and that was the first good news of the day. He said that his heart was healthy and it was working properly.  His body started responding to the medication by the end of the day. As the week passed, they slowed and omitted medications.

It is a week later, while I type this, my sweet baby is still on the ventilator. He has had a rough week. Today they tried to take him off the ventilator but his vocal cords are swollen and he still has a lot of mucous. They are going to leave him on the ventilator for several more days. My prayer is for the mucous to loosen, his lungs to heal and develop, and for him to rest easily while the rest of his body heals.