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On the day of Scarlett’s birth, we arrived at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital with a team of more than 30 doctors and nurses ready to provide immediate care. Scarlett was delivered via a planned C-section, and she was intubated and placed on a ventilator before she was even fully removed from my uterus. This procedure, known as an EXIT to airway, allowed the medical team to ensure Scarlett’s airway was secure before continuing with her delivery. Her birth was a blur of activity as doctors and nurses worked tirelessly to stabilize her, and as soon as she was born, she was whisked away to the NICU for further care.
Only 18 hours after her birth, Scarlett went into respiratory failure. She was placed on ECMO, a life-support machine designed to oxygenate her blood when her lungs were too weak to do so. Initially, the doctors were hopeful that she would only need ECMO for a short time, perhaps less than a week.
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