| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009 12:13 pm |
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Local News 
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Baby Ellie was premature, yet perfect Ellie Dupas came into this world more than three months before her expected birth date, weighing just 2 pounds, 1 ounce.Within hours of her birth on Jan. 23, she was rushed by ambulance from a Bellingham hospital to a special intensive care unit for newborns at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. For the first two months of her life, she lived in an isolation unit for pre-term infants, her tiny body barely visible among a swaddling of blankets to keep her warm. Her feet were so tiny her mom could slip her wedding band over the top of her foot. Ellie was surrounded by equipment whose jiggling lines tracked the electronic impulse of every heartbeat, monitored the oxygen in her blood, tracked her body temperature and blood pressure and measured the strength of each breath. Of the 539 infants cared for last year in the neonatal intensive care unit at Providence, only 22 were born as early as Ellie, between 27 and 28 weeks old. Now, three months later, Ellie is approaching what had been the expected date of her birth -- April 26. Her parents hope to mark this milestone in two ways. On Saturday, they plan to participate in a fundraising walk in Everett to benefit the March of Dimes, a national organization that promotes healthy pregnancies and works to prevent premature births. And with Ellie now weighing a relatively robust 7 pounds, 9 ounces, they are counting down the days until she can finally leave the hospital, driving their daughter to their Bellingham-area home for the first time -- perhaps as soon as next week. Just thinking about what it will be like is emotional, her mom, Ranae Dupas, said. "To know that we've gotten past that hurdle and she's doing that well … and to take her home and to put her in her own little bed -- that will be a sleepless night." There was nothing unusual about Ranae Dupas' pregnancy until she awoke about 2 a.m. on Jan. 23. But about a half-hour later, her water broke. She and her husband Denis were told to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. Still, they were calm during their 20-minute drive from their home to Saint Joseph Hospital in Bellingham. Ranae Dupas said she didn't recognize the cramping she was feeling as the signal of something else. "You're having contractions," a nurse told her shortly after they arrived at the hospital. Although they hoped to give her medicine to stop her baby from being born unusually early, Ranae Dupas was told it was too late. Her daughter was born at 3:44 a.m. "It was three pushes and out," her mom said. She heard her infant's muffled cry before her baby was rushed from the room. "There was shock at that point … kind of like a car accident where there's a crash and then suddenly everything is stopped," her mom said. In the nursery, her tiny infant, barely 13 inches long, and weighing about as much as a quart of milk, was surrounded by a seven-member medical team. Within hours, an ambulance, specially outfitted for care of fragile infants, was dispatched from Seattle. Before leaving Bellingham, one of its on-board staff promised the couple: "We'll take care of her." The care they showed "meant a lot to us," Ranae Dupas said. "At that point, we were very startled and scared." Ellie's parents had to wait six days to hold her for the first time, and even then, two nurses and a breathing specialist stood nearby protectively. Everyone, though, noticed the infant's reaction, desperately trying to pick up her head and turn it toward her parents. In the weeks since then, her growth has been tracked by a series of footprints inked onto colorful construction paper. The first is a 2-inch print made on Feb. 19 by an infant who had gained just 4.5 ounces since her birth. By early April, the footprint was even bigger, and she weighed 6 pounds. Now she's almost to a healthy 8 pounds, packing on 9 ounces over the past week alone. Ellie smiles now when she hears familiar voices. And nearly from the beginning, she showed a willfulness, finding a way to burrow an arm or leg out of the swaddling she was wrapped in, soon earning her the nickname "Houdini" among hospital staff. Because she was born very prematurely, Ellie will be tested every four to six months for development, muscle tone, responsiveness and undergo extra eye and hearing exams. Developmentally, she lags about three months behind, but they expect that by age 2 she will catch up, her mom said. March of Dimes staff will be providing the family with information on available services for their daughter. "It is such a gift and such an amazing thing to see her grow and develop," her mom said. "To see your child is perfect -- essentially perfect, just little -- is amazing." Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486, salyer@heraldnet.com. Premature births About one in 10 babies is born prematurely in Washington. The rate of pre-term births in Washington is highest for Native American infants, 14.6 percent; followed by blacks, 13.8 percent; Hispanics, 10.9 percent; Asians, 10 percent; and whites, 9.8 percent. Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death. Babies who survive an early birth often face the risk of life-long health issues, such as breathing problems, developmental delays and others. Even babies born just a few weeks too soon have higher rates of death and disability than full-term babies. Source: March of Dimes |
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