Baby continues fighting under parents' watchful eyes
Braelynn Rose and her mother, Madison. {Contributed photo}
On January 11, young Lexington parents - Madison Coppley, 18 and Hunter Little, 19 - welcomed their beautiful newborn baby girl, Braelynn Rose, into the world at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center. What is typically a parent’s happiest day, turned into a day of fear and confusion as they learned about Braelynn’s condition. Braelynn was diagnosed with Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return, dextrocardia, right lung sequestration and a very small right lung. TAPVR is a rare birth defect of the heart. In a baby with TAPVR, oxygen-rich blood does not return from the lungs to the left atrium. Instead, the oxygen-rich blood returns to the right side of the heart.
During her 20-week pregnancy anatomy scan, Coppley learned that Braelynn’s heart had actually shifted to the right side of her chest and was tilted to the right. “Later in the pregnancy, an ultrasound also showed something that looked like a mass on her right lung. After she was born and tests were run, we learned it was something called a sequestration on her right lung,” Coppley explained.
The day after Braelynn was born, she was transferred to the NICU at Duke University Hospital in Raleigh, NC, where she is currently being treated and remains on a ventilator. Braelynn has already undergone many tests and procedures, including surgery for her lung, where the doctor coiled off a blood vessel that was sending oxygen-rich blood to the sequestration, in hopes to send the oxygen-rich blood throughout her body where it needed go. Braelynn will have heart surgery in the near future as well, although an exact date has not yet been set.
{Contributed photo}
Coppley added, “The doctors are slowly trying to wean Braelynn off of the ventilator so we can get her heart surgery done. They are looking at her lungs further to see if there is any other reason besides the small right lung that she is having trouble breathing properly. We are hoping she will soon be able to come off the ventilator and be able to breathe properly on her own so she can have her heart surgery and be able to come home soon.”
For young, new parents their feelings are unimaginable as they watch their infant daughter go through these challenges and critical procedures. Coppley stated, “We are definitely having a hard time emotionally; it’s very hard having to go to a hospital to see your baby and having to ask permission to hold your own child. It is difficult but we are trying to stay strong for our baby girl while she gets the help she needs.” So how can others help? Simply, with prayers.
Coppley’s mother and baby Braelynn’s grandmother, Felisha McQueen, recently created a GoFundMe account to help with the swiftly increasing medical fees and other associated expenses. McQueen shared, “They [Coppley and Little] are staying at the Ronald McDonald House right now. They have to pay for food and parking every day, a few times a day. And, neither of them is working right now. They both have jobs, however, they are needing to be with their baby, as you can see. Nobody expects this when you have a baby. My daughter and her boyfriend are not ones to ever ask anyone for help, which is the reason I’m doing this for them.”
Local nonprofit, Compassion Inspiring Action (CIA) cofounders, Robert Miller and Jimmy Davis, made the trip to Duke University Hospital on January 25 to meet the family, pray and deliver a donation. Miller voiced, “I'm asking everyone who truly believes in the power of prayer, to please lift up Braelynn Rose every time you pray. I know God can, and I truly believe God will perform a miracle in this family's life. I also believe there is power in numbers when we all come together for the same purpose and with the same heart.”
*PayPal donations accepted at compassioninspiringaction@gmail.com (ear mark it Felisha)
