Baby Charlotte's NICU Fund

On the afternoon of June 27th, Crystal and Curt Williams embarked on the long drive from their home in Alberta, Virginia to Johnston-Willis Hospital in Midlothian, Virginia. Bags packed and car seat installed, they were both excited about becoming new parents and finally meeting their sweet baby girl. After approximately 12 hours in labor, Charlotte Jane Williams was born on June 28th at 7:18 a.m. weighing 5 pounds 12 ounces and measuring 17 1/2 inches. Both mommy and daddy were completely in love and couldn't wait to hold her.

The nurses immediately laid baby Charlotte on Crystal's chest while Curt cut the umbilical cord. It was only a few minutes later that the nurses would inform Crystal and Curt of the need to take Charlotte to the hospital nursery. Little did they know, that was the last moment they would see their beautiful newborn baby for eight excruciating hours, and the only opportunity they would have to hold her.

Several hours after last seeing their daughter, they were notified that she had been transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Johnston-Willis Hospital with little explanation why, other than her lungs were not functioning properly. Finally, at 3:30 pm they received permission to visit baby Charlotte in the NICU. When they arrived, they found their precious baby daughter in an incubator, surrounded by IVs, a ventilator, and several monitors. An extremely terrifying sight for any new parents. 

Over the course of the next several hours, Crystal and Curt were led to believe that baby Charlotte's condition was improving, until roughly 9:00 pm when a doctor notified them that she was to be transferred by ambulance to VCU Medical Center's NICU in Richmond, Virginia. This news was terrifying for the entire family. Both Crystal and Curt felt helpless and overwhelmed not knowing exactly what was wrong with their baby girl, but had to make some tough decisions quickly in the interest of their new baby. Ultimately, because of the advanced technology and specialized treatments available at VCU Medical Center, they knew the transfer was the best option for baby Charlotte.

A mere 14 hours after delivery, Crystal was not permitted to leave the hospital to travel with her baby, so it was decided that Curt would travel to VCU Medical Center to meet Charlotte and spend the night by her side. Not knowing if this would be the last time she would see her precious baby, Crystal headed to the Johnston-Willis NICU to spend time with Charlotte before the VCU NICU care team arrived to take her daughter away. On the day of Charlotte's birth, just hours after delivery, the new family of three would be separated for the next 20 hours until Crystal could be discharged early from Johnston-Willis Hospital.

The 9 person VCU NICU care team arrived shortly after and were well prepared for the challenging transfer of delicate little Charlotte from Johnston-Willis equipment to the more advanced and mobile equipment of the VCU Medical Center NICU.

After a 3 hour transfer process, Charlotte was finally connected to the VCU NICU-supplied incubator and loaded into the ambulance to begin her journey.

Almost immediately after Charlotte arrived at VCU Medical Center, the doctors and nursing staff began providing Curt with the information that everyone had been waiting hours to hear. It was obvious that Charlotte was going to be receiving a higher quality of care at VCU, validating the difficult decision that Crystal and Curt made to transfer Charlotte.

Charlotte had been formally diagnosed with a double Pneumothorax, a rupture in the lung tissue caused by the delicate lung filling too quickly. Her lungs would need time to heal before they could provide a sufficient amount of oxygen to her body. Doctors discussed a treatment option called Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), which would circulate Charlotte's blood out of a vein, into the ECMO machine for oxygenation outside of her body, and then pump the blood back into her body through an artery located in her neck. The major risks of ECMO include clotting, internal hemorrhaging (especially of the brain), damage to blood cells, and negative reaction of blood transfusions. Charlotte would require a team of nurses by her side 24 hours a day to monitor her vitals, the ECMO instrument, and the quality, viscosity, and pH of her blood. While extremely risky, ECMO was the only treatment option that would take the stress off of her delicate lungs, possibly allowing them time to heal.

Approximately 24 hours after being born, Charlotte was successfully hooked up to ECMO to begin the healing process. In addition, ventilation tubes were placed through each side of her chest to vent the air escaping her lungs through the double Pneumothorax. At the same time, Crystal was beginning the discharge process and couldn't wait to see her baby and be united as a family.

The VCU Medical Center's NICU is unique in that each baby is assigned their own room. Upon Crystal's arrival at VCU, she was able to join Curt and Charlotte for the first time since Charlotte's delivery.

The incredible doctors and nursing staff at VCU Medical Center are taking amazing care of baby Charlotte and it is a huge relief to Crystal and Curt. As of now, Charlotte seems to be responding extremely well to the ECMO treatment, but will undoubtedly have a long fight ahead of her.

Crystal and Curt have been making the hour-long drive from Alberta, VA to VCU Medical Center to spend each day by Charlotte's side. While Crystal and Curt knew they would be dealing with the stress and lack of quality sleep that any new parents experience, they were not expecting or prepared for the heartache, difficult decisions, and extremely high medical costs associated with baby Charlotte's emergency transportation, specialized ECMO treatment, fees associated with her dedicated staff of doctors and nurses, medication & labs, and the unknown length of her stay in the NICU.

When required to make quick and critical decisions about your baby's health, any parent would do what it takes to help their baby despite the incredible costs associated with treatment of this kind, and Crystal and Curt did just that. Please join me in supporting this sweet family of three as they embark on baby Charlotte's path to recovery. Any size donation will help to ease the financial burden of the incurred medical costs. If you are unable to donate, your thoughts and prayers are also much appreciated!

XO- Team Charlotte!

P.S. This site will be updated periodically with status updates containing the latest available information about baby Charlotte's condition and progress.