Alyssa Gibson
Alyssa and her husband, Stephen, live in Elko, Nevada, but after complications with her pregnancy, she turned to the maternal-fetal medicine team at St. Mark's Hospital.
Take me to St. Mark’s Hospital:
Personalized care for my micro-preemie
Have you ever been with someone and felt more like your true self? That’s what it felt like when Alyssa Gibson held her 1 lb. 14.9 oz micro-preemie daughter for the first time.
“I guess I would say that I felt whole – like there had been a piece of myself missing until I got to hold her … and [it felt like] pure joy as well!” Alyssa said.
To have that tiny, miraculous baby girl arrive and survive required a medical team of caring, qualified professionals.
Alyssa and her husband, Stephen, met in April, married in July, and became pregnant in July. The newlyweds live in Ely, Nevada, and they figured their child would be born there, too, until Alyssa developed two conditions during pregnancy that required advanced medical attention.
In addition to preeclampsia (a dangerous condition involving high blood pressure, high levels of protein in the urine, and swelling in the legs, feet, and hands), the umbilical cord connecting Alyssa and Baby wasn’t flowing with nutrients properly. The slow and sometimes absent flow within the umbilical cord jeopardized Baby’s growth and development.
Doctors noted that near the pregnancy’s halfway point, Alyssa’s baby measured a week behind in size, but a couple of weeks later, she measured 3 or 4 weeks behind. Instead of gaining strength, Baby Girl seemed to be falling further behind. That’s when Alyssa’s doctors in Elko, Nevada, recommended visiting the maternal-fetal medicine professionals at St. Mark’s Hospital.
Alyssa and Stephen drove four hours to St. Mark’s to see board-certified maternal-fetal medicine physicians specializing in high-risk pregnancies. After deciphering detailed measurements of Baby, the maternal-fetal medicine team made a recommendation that shocked Alyssa.
“They knew how serious the umbilical cord flow was and said they weren’t comfortable with me leaving the hospital. I had no idea that was going to happen. I wasn’t prepared for that,” Alyssa remembers. “As the doctor explained things, I tried to pay attention to what she was saying, but I couldn’t stop crying. I was overwhelmed and scared and emotional – basically almost in hysterics.”
Two hospital spaces worth touring: the NICU and the Hall of Hope
Alyssa spent a couple of days in St. Mark’s Hospital, where doctors and nurses in the Labor and Delivery Unit monitored her blood pressure and her baby’s growth. Then, the team decided that if everything stabilized, Alyssa could stay somewhere close to the hospital and undergo twice-weekly monitoring appointments. Unfortunately, Alyssa needed to be readmitted shortly thereafter, and she knew this time she’d remain hospitalized until her baby arrived.
Attempting to give as much gestation time as possible, Alyssa took those hospital days slowly. She read, crocheted, watched TV, and occasionally ventured from her room to soak up hope in unique hospital spaces.
“One of the first things we did was take a tour of the NICU. It made me feel better to see they had all different machines to help the babies with, but it was also overwhelming to know my baby would need to be in the NICU,” Alyssa said.
Another favorite spot became the Hall of Hope, a hallway filled with large, framed pictures of children holding photos of themselves as newborns in the NICU. The pictures also include the gestational age of each child at birth and their birth weight.
“I went to that hallway often,” Alyssa said. “It helped to see all these children who had been born at 24, 25, 26 weeks and doing amazing. It made me feel better about our baby and her future.”
When things change in an instant, medical teams spring into action
During her 30th week of gestation, Alyssa had an ultrasound in the hospital room, and the physician let Stephen move the wand around a little bit.
“It was so cute! We took pictures, and we saw our baby girl practicing breathing and doing some kicking. Things were doing pretty good!” Alyssa remembers.
A few days later, things changed. Alyssa could tell Baby Girl had stopped moving, and her medical team jumped into action. An ultrasound revealed that Baby’s heart rate wasn’t normal and confirmed the lack of movement.
“When the maternal-fetal medicine doctor said, ‘We’re having a baby today,’ I was terrified,” Alyssa said. “It all happened so fast. It felt like something out of a movie. A crazy flurry of labor and delivery nurses got me ready, and the doctors came to talk with me.”
Alyssa’s emergency C-section finished nearly as quickly and concluded with the sound of a faint, precious cry. Small but mighty, Eleanor Annalee Hughes entered the world weighing less than 2 lbs. and measuring 13 inches long.
Hours later, after Alyssa’s pain medications had worn off and the NICU team had Baby Eleanor settled in, Alyssa saw her daughter for the first time.
“When I looked at her, I just started bawling. She was tiny and red and still covered in stuff from being in the uterus. I reached into her isolette and touched her,” Alyssa said. “… It was all worth it. I can say I‘d go through everything all over again just to have her.”
Intensive love, care, and friendships
Eleanor spent 49 days in the NICU at St. Mark’s Hospital, gaining strength. At first, the unknown of the situation felt heavy to Alyssa, but she says growing relationships with the nurses made all the difference.
“They were amazing at explaining everything they were doing and involving us as much as possible,” Alyssa said. “They taught us how to care for a micro-preemie—how to change her diaper and give her a bath. On hard days, those nurses listened to me, related to me, and validated my feelings.”
Alyssa says that after spending such intense and important time together, she and the nurses have solidified an unbreakable bond and friendship. She could feel their love and saw that their love swaddled Eleanor as well.
“Eleanor basically had a fan club before she left,” Alyssa said. “It was great to see the relationships they formed with her and with us. I’m still friends with some of the nurses today.”
Although Alyssa never anticipated delivering her firstborn at St. Mark’s Hospital, she says she’s grateful she did.
“St. Mark’s just happened to be where we delivered, but I’m so glad. It’s a smaller hospital than a lot of the other places nearby, and I think that when you’re in a smaller hospital, you get more personalized care. You get to really know people and form relationships, which helped me a lot get through a very stressful and scary situation.”
St. Mark’s Hospital's Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) provides comprehensive, critical care for premature and critically ill newborns. Learn more about our NICU.
Go to our Labor and Delivery page or call (801) 743-6540 for more information about the Labor and Delivery services at St. Mark’s Hospital, including childbirth education classes.