Meet Scottie
SCOTTIE’S STORY
At our 20-week ultrasound, we were filled with joy when we learned we were expecting a baby girl. The excitement was overwhelming — imagining tiny bows, sweet snuggles, and the bond she’d share with her big brother. But by the end of that appointment, our joy was met with worry. Doctors noticed something concerning, and we were told our daughter might have a birth defect.
A few weeks later, we traveled to ProMedica Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, where we met with a maternal-fetal medicine specialist. It was there that we received the diagnosis: Scottie has Left Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (LCDH). From that moment, our journey changed.
We were referred to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, one of the best places for CDH care. At 34 weeks pregnant, I relocated to Cincinnati to be close to the hospital, while my husband and our two-year-old son traveled back and forth to be with me. It was a challenging time filled with uncertainty, but also love, strength, and hope as we prepared to meet our baby girl.
We welcomed Scottie into the world on October 2nd, and from there began the next phase of this journey. The first weeks of her life were a whirlwind. By October 4th, her medical team made the decision to place her on ECMO for additional support. On her third day of life, she underwent her hernia repair. During surgery, doctors discovered her defect was more moderate to severe rather than mild as originally hoped.
After her repair, Scottie began exceeding expectations and was able to come off ECMO. Unfortunately, her numbers declined shortly after, and she needed that extra support again. She returned to ECMO about a day and a half later, but this time she was able to come off in less than a week — a huge step forward. After that, she has continued to make progress. She later had another surgery to close her belly, as there wasn’t enough skin to do so during her initial repair. From there, the focus shifted to slowly weaning oxygen support and working on feeding — all meaningful milestones on her journey.
By the end of November, Scottie was officially off oxygen support and doing great. Our next big goal was learning to take a bottle and getting closer to coming home. On December 26th, after 62 days in the NICU, Scottie finally came home where she belongs. She came home with a feeding tube, and we began working toward bottle feeds.
Bottle feeding has been going very well, and Scottie has already been taking some full bottles completely on her own — another incredible milestone for our strong, determined girl.
As told to Fore Hadley by Rachael Swick aka “Mom”
About the Fore Hadley Angels in the NICU Fund
Support and proceeds for the Fore Hadley Angels in the NICU Fund will go towards assisting current and future families like Clare’s, by providing financial contributions to assist families with the costs associated with extended, long distance travel and living arrangements. Costs that are often a must to ensure the proper specialty care for CDH babies.