Parents of Newborn Told to Prepare for the Worst

“We were definitely excited.  It was going to be our second child…it was going to be very fun and interesting to add a son to the mix,” says Audrey Turnbull.  

On April 8th, 2005, Doug and Audrey Turnbull welcomed their first son Andrew into the world.       

Doug says, “It's hard to describe.  I mean, it's a euphoria.  It's a peace, a comfort, and great, great excitement.”  

Since Audrey had a C-section, she was still lying on the table as nurses took the baby aside for assessment.  After a few minutes, she realized she hadn’t heard him cry.

She remembers, “It took a while for the cry to come.  But then when he did make his first cry, it was actually a muffled cry.  I even said, ‘Wow, his cry sounds really funny.’”  

Meanwhile, nurses noted that the newborn’s skin wasn’t turning pink, a sign he was having trouble getting enough oxygen.  They put him in an incubator, hoping it would help.  

Audrey says, “They actually wheeled him in the incubator to me, it was just like a little hood over his head so I could at least see him, but they only let him stay at my side for at least a minute or less.”  

At that point, Doug says, “They then decided we need to get him down to the NICU.”

Doctors at Women’s Hospital of Texas admitted Andrew to the neonatal intensive care unit.  X-rays revealed that his heart was on the wrong side of his chest and one of his lungs was underdeveloped.  Further testing showed extreme pressure in his lungs, preventing his body from getting the oxygen it needed.  

Audrey says, “In that moment it's hard to wrap your mind around the real depth and complexity of the actual health problems that he had."

The next day, Andrew was transported to Texas Children’s Hospital, next door, where he was diagnosed with Scimitar Syndrome.  It’s a rare condition where major organs are displaced.  In Andrew’s case, he had two veins going from his lungs into the wrong side of his heart, limiting the flow of oxygen.  Dr. Charleta Guillory was Andrew’s neonatologist.

Dr. Guillory says, “You could have organ failure of any organ, the kidneys, the brain, any organ could be affected as a result of that.  He was in the group of babies that had the highest mortality, morbidity, ‘at risk’ for not surviving.”   

Doug recalls, “We had this feeling of spiraling.  It's like that drain that spirals.”  

Over the next two days, Andrew’s oxygen levels continued to drop.   

Dr. Guillory says, “At that particular time we were doing the maximal therapy we could give to Andrew.  And we knew in order to do more, we needed to do a cardiac cath, or an MRI, but Andrew was so sick, we knew we couldn't move him to do the tests that we needed to do.”

Doug remembers, “One of the surgeons at one point said, ‘We don't have a game plan so to take him to an operating room without knowing how he's wired, we may lose him on the table cause we just don't know what we're dealing with.’”

Audrey tried to make sense of what was happening.

Audrey remembers asking herself, “What could I have done differently?  How could I have caused this?  Is it something in our environment that caused it?  And your mind starts to race on the ‘what if’ scenarios.  It's scary.  The unknown is very scary.”

Doug and Audrey held on by faith, and asked friends and relatives to pray.

Audrey says, “We had people from all over the United States that were able to call, prayer chains and churches across all denominations.  And when you realize there is nothing that you can physically do for him but pray, then that's all we have to do.”

Four days after Andrew was born, Audrey and Doug received the news they feared most.

Doug remembers that moment: “The doctor came out, with tears streaming down her face and said, ‘He's just not going to make it through the day.’  So she said, ‘Call, whoever you want, family.  But he probably will not make it through the day.’  So that's when it – that's when it hits you, as a dad.”  

Audrey says, “All I could do was internally, just pray.  Pray for my own strength.  Pray for wisdom and pray for guidance."

Then, during the night, Andrew’s oxygen levels began to stabilize.   

Dr. Guillory says, “He began to gradually improve without us changing anything, and certainly without surgery.  He began to improve.”

The improvement was so drastic, doctors were able to wean him off of medications and machines.

Audrey says, “You don't even know what to do after you've heard, you know, the exciting news that he has - a probability now of making it.”  

Andrew’s MRI showed that his vital organs had not been damaged.  After six weeks in the hospital, he went home.  Today, Andrew is a healthy, active 11-year-old.  While his doctors still keep an eye on him, he’s had no residual problems.   

Dr. Guillory says, “I would consider Andrew's recovery an awesome blessing.”

Doug adds, “All you can say is ‘Thank you, Lord.  Thank you, Lord.’”

Audrey says, “I do believe Andrew's miracle is an act of God because there was no other way he would have survived.”