Mother’s urgent warning to all parents after her newborn baby Pixie was struck down by the common cold and almost died
Mom’s urgent warning to all parents after her newborn baby Pixie was struck by a cold and almost died
A mother who saved her newborn baby’s life by rushing her to hospital is urging parents to ‘trust their gut’ if they think something is wrong.
Jenna Doecke, who lives six hours from Melbourne in rural Victoria, took little Pixie to Mildura Base Hospital at two weeks old after she developed a cold that quickly became life-threatening.
Within hours, the baby’s lungs failed and she went into heart failure, leading to an exhausting rollercoaster of 24-hour bedside vigils, emergency treatments and gradual improvement.
After five weeks, her baby is still not out of the woods, but she can finally breathe on her own, giving Mrs. Doecke a chance to think.
She wants other mothers to know that taking a sick baby to the hospital is never an overreaction.
“(Pixie’s nurse) told us to always trust a mother’s instincts and that we did absolutely the right thing at the right time by taking her to hospital,” Ms Doecke said on social media.
Jenna Doecke wants other moms to know that taking a sick baby to the hospital is never an overreaction. In the photo: Mrs Doecke with baby Pixie
When Pixie’s lungs began to collapse, the newborn was placed on a breathing tube and kept alive by machines as her heart failed.
‘(I was told) my motherly instinct saved her life… if I had waited until the next morning, we would probably be telling a different story now.
“Never in a million years thought a cold could almost kill a baby.”
When Pixie, Mrs. Doecke’s sixth baby, stopped breathing heavily at the age of two weeks and became restless – and stayed that way – her mother’s instincts came into action.
Hours after her baby refused a bottle, she became “grumpy” and things got worse, so she told partner Sandon Robinson it was time to take the baby to A&E.
Within six hours of arriving, Pixie was in intensive care as her body began to shut down.
She was flown by helicopter to the Royal Children’s Hospital where she was diagnosed with rhinovirus, a virus that causes the common cold.
But there was also much worse news.
Because her immune system was weakened, Pixie developed a respiratory infection and myocarditis, an inflamed heart.
When her lungs began to collapse, the newborn was placed on a breathing tube and kept alive by machines as her heart failed.
After the rally, the baby’s condition deteriorated dramatically and doctors began discussing resuscitation and surgery to save the baby’s life.
Mrs Doecke expected to be told that Pixie ‘didn’t make it’.
But almost two weeks later, Pixie, who she calls my “superstar,” is still fighting.
“My god, she’s a fighter.”
She is breathing on her own, being weaned off morphine and milrinone, a drug for acute heart failure, and has finally had a bottle.
Pixie (photo) is now breathing on her own, is being weaned off morphine and milrinone, a drug for acute heart failure, and has finally been given a bottle
When Pixie Robinson was just over two weeks old, he developed heart failure. Pictured: Pixie, from the family’s GoFundMe page
“They weren’t wrong when they said she had a long journey ahead of her, but she’s alive and that’s all we prayed for.
“I’m still surprised she only experienced a cold.”
The family started with one GoFundMe page to raise money for Pixie’s ongoing medical expenses.
“I set up this fundraiser to help ease the burden on Jenna and Sandon while they are in Melbourne with Pixie, so they have one less thing to worry about while they are away from their family and unable to work,” wrote family friend Amy Johnston. .