{"id":17233,"date":"2023-03-17T10:00:42","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T15:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=17233"},"modified":"2026-04-17T08:55:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T13:55:29","slug":"one-familys-nicu-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/one-familys-nicu-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"One family’s NICU experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

After becoming pregnant following a diagnosis and treatment for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)<\/a>, Miranda Yazvec\u2019s biggest concern was carrying the baby to full term.<\/p>\n

During the Lewistown, Illinois, woman\u2019s pregnancy, she continued taking progesterone that was prescribed as part of her PCOS treatment. Progesterone<\/a> is known as the pregnancy hormone and helps a fertilized egg to implant in the uterus and then helps maintain a pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Miranda continued taking progesterone until week 36 of her pregnancy. The hormone was taken as a pill for the first three weeks, but her progesterone level was not where it needed to be to maintain a pregnancy. After three weeks taking it in pill form, Miranda had to switch to injections every other day.<\/p>\n

While the every-other-day injections \u201cwere awful,\u201d she said, the end result was a baby carried to 39 weeks.<\/p>\n

Welcome, baby!<\/h2>\n

On July 19, 2022, Miranda had a scheduled C-section at OSF HealthCare St. Mary Medical Center<\/a> in Galesburg, Illinois, and baby girl Ellisen came into the world.<\/p>\n

The C-section<\/a> was necessary because Miranda had given birth to her son, Greysen, by C-section five years earlier. She also had undergone surgery on her ovaries three months prior to becoming pregnant with Ellisen as part of her PCOS treatment.<\/p>\n

Miranda couldn\u2019t wait to hold her newborn.<\/p>\n

\"Ellisen,<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI was so out of it. I just remember waiting to see her and as soon as I got to see her, they said they had to take her. She was having a hard time breathing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After a pediatric team worked on Ellisen, Miranda and her husband, Darrin, were told the baby was having a harder time and they were calling in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)<\/a> team from OSF HealthCare Children\u2019s Hospital of Illinois in Peoria.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was instantly hysterical,\u201d Miranda said.<\/p>\n

The NICU team transported Ellisen from Galesburg to Peoria by ambulance, and made sure to keep the parents informed. The hardest part for Miranda was she couldn\u2019t go to Peoria with Ellisen since she was still recovering from the C-section.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband went to Peoria and I had to stay in Galesburg, and the next morning I went there,\u201d Miranda said.<\/p>\n

A baby\u2019s medical care<\/h2>\n

\u201cShe had persistent pulmonary hypertension in a newborn. Essentially her lungs were working as if she was still in utero,\u201d Miranda said. \u201cShe didn\u2019t get her big breath when she came out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellisen needed to be intubated, but the NICU team waited for Miranda to arrive to see her baby.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing her was very emotional because I couldn\u2019t hold her until a week went by. Very, very emotional and hard,\u201d she said. \u201cShe was intubated for about a week and was given nitric oxide that went down into the lungs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Baby<\/a><\/p>\n

The newborn also had a rib that punctured a lung, so she needed a chest tube and was put on morphine for the pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was terrifying when she came off the morphine, because basically she went through withdrawal,\u201d Miranda said. \u201cThe screaming, her shaking \u2026 it was so awful. Then she had to be put on methadone for part of her stay in the NICU.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually her breathing normalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a fighter,\u201d Miranda said.<\/p>\n

Feeding, however, took a little longer as she was on a feeding tube. Eventually she improved and was eating on her own the last three days of her 22-day NICU stay.<\/p>\n

A NICU experience<\/h2>\n

Miranda remained at OSF Children\u2019s Hospital for the first week of Ellisen\u2019s NICU stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I had a 5-year-old at home and he wasn\u2019t doing well with my husband and I being gone. So I drove back and forth every day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NICU staff was absolutely amazing. Every nurse kept me in the know about everything. They always asked if I needed anything. Any question, they were right outside the door. I was never blindsided,\u201d she said. \u201cDarrin had to go back to work, and that was hard for him. But he felt at peace because there\u2019s a camera in every NICU room and he was able to watch her when he was at work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other families offered support, too, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother family saw we just got to the NICU<\/a> and they ordered us dinner,\u201d Miranda said. \u201cAll the families are so supportive and caring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peace of mind<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Miranda experienced a normal pregnancy with no complications.<\/p>\n

The issues Ellisen experienced could have happened to anyone, anywhere with a full-term pregnancy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think I\u2019d have anything to worry about. I had a great pregnancy,\u201d she said. \u201cGoing full term was my concern. I was full term, how was this happening? You just always have to be prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without the connectivity, quick actions and high-level care at both OSF St. Mary and OSF Children\u2019s Hospital, things would not have gone as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing seeing the NICU team come in while we were still at OSF St. Mary. They knew exactly when to call all the shots to have them come in,\u201d Miranda said. \u201cA whole NICU team came to Galesburg. It was insane. A NICU nurse and respiratory therapist brought an incubator, assessed her and both came to talk to me. It just made me have peace of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Ellisen, is very ornery, smiley and rolling all over the place.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is a very big baby,\u201d Miranda said. \u201cShe\u2019s an eater. She loves her food.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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