Raelynn

2020 EMBRACING BRAVE North Texas Fall Recipient

After a normal, healthy pregnancy, I went into the hospital for maternal observation because of decreased movement. I was 36 weeks and 6 days along. 6 hours later, after an emergency c section, Raelynn Grace Elliott joined us Earthside without a heartbeat but was quickly brought back. The next week was a blur. Raelynn suffered a massive acute FetoMaternal Hemorrhage where she gave me almost all her blood and was born with basically no blood. She was rushed to the NICU at Cook Children’s, given several blood transfusions, and put under the cooling protocol. Her body temperature was lowered to 93 degrees for 72 hours and then gradually rewarmed. This protocol is supposed to protect the brain and stop any additional damage. During this time she had seizure activity and almost a flatline EEG. After she was rewarmed she had an MRI, reflecting what the EEG had shown; Raelynn had extreme to severe global brain damage (every part of her brain was affected except the brain stem and cerebellum) and was diagnosed with stage III  Hypoxic-ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE).  Basically meaning she had a lack of blood and oxygen to her brain for an unknown amount of time causing damage to all parts of her brain. We spent the next 23 days back and forth to the hospital trying to survive each day as it came. We were told the worst case scenario by our care team and went through the darkest days of our lives. However, Raelynn was a warrior and she kept fighting through! We finally were discharged and ready to see what our new normal would be. 

Since her homecoming, Raelynn has been in Early Childhood Intervention and has received Speech and Physical therapy weekly along with seeing her long list of specialists. She has struggled with eating, strabismus, meeting milestones, and most recently diagnosed with Hypotonic Cerebral Palsy and global developmental delays. Raelynn works extremely hard everyday to do things that most people don't think twice about and we are beyond proud of her. We celebrate every inchstone and milestone and have learned to not take anything for granted. She lights up any room that she enters and her laugh is contagious. 

With the support of her medical teams, her family (Mom, Dad, Big Sister and little brother), and her social media cheerleaders, Raeylnn has been proving doctors wrong left and right! She is now able to eat on her own, smile, laugh, walk, communicate with gestures and signs, and has begun babbling and saying a few words. Raelynn touches the lives of so many and we have learned more about joy, hope, and love than we knew possible. 

Our journey Raising Raelynn is just beginning! Follow along - https://www.facebook.com/RaisingRaelynn- 2020