Baby Dixie and her Family

6/20

Hello everyone, I am Crystal Hailey’s Mom and Dixie’s Grandma.

This update will be a quick summary of what has happened so far so you don’t have to read through all of the details below unless you want to.

-Dixie was born 6 weeks early unable to take a bottle without having extreme reflux.

Her reflux (Gerd) was so extreme they recommended a Nissen Fundoplication to fix the issue.

-Before the surgery could happen they made them wait a month in the hospital, because she had Rhinovirus. At this point they had been living at the hospital for almost two months.

-Dixie continued to have episodes of turning blue from not breathing because of her Gerd and the cold she was fighting really hit her hard.

—They released Dixie a few days before her surgery, they went home to return on Monday for her surgery consultation. Dixie was sent home on a tube/feeding bag meanwhile to nourish her.

-The wreck:

A person T boned them on their way to the surgery consultation with Zack, Hailey and Dixie in the car.

-3 days later she was reflux again and her NGD tube was wadded up in her intestine.

-Dixie’s surgery happened a week later and what was considered a safe and simple procedure has not turned out that way.

Her stomach detached and spilled stomach contents into her abdomen and she is now intubated with a wound vac and being treated for sepsis.

She is critical and fighting for her life at three months old.

-The family is being air flighted Wed to a children’s hospital in Saint Louis.

Cardinal Glennon. Her surgeon is the head of pediatrics there.

-the family needs help because they cannot work right now as they are by Dixie’s side as she fights to live.

They have two toddlers to care for as well while they live at the hospital.

They have continued bills, travel expenses, eating and children’s needs happening right now.

They need us!

Thank you so much for helping them. If you want more details you may read the updates below.

6/14

Dixie update from Hailey and Zack Hicks

It would be a huge lie to tell you everything we hoped would happen with this surgery but I have quickly learned, never expect the best case scenario and be prepared for the worst.

Monday night after surgery was super rough, she was dropping her oxygen and heart rate dangerously low which resulted in her getting bagged a couple times to get her to snap out of it.

Tuesday was okay but the swelling in her abdomen had increased and she was kinda of zoning out and having destats so they watched her brain waves over night to make sure she wasn’t having seizures.

Everything checked out great but by morning her stomach was scary distended.

They decided not to do the MRI because that would mean putting her under and we didn’t want to take that risk with how risky she was to intubate for surgery so we did a barium study to check for blockages, leaks in the surgery she just had or bowl obstruction.

We didn’t find any of those things which is great.

But what we did find is a ton of air we HAVE to get out, also trapped air in her esophagus which could mean 2 things.

1. The Nissen is too tight which means it will have to be loosened or she won’t be able to eat by mouth

2. Which we are leaning toward more is residual swelling from the surgery being 48 hours post op and at the peak of swelling we are hoping to get this resolved by tomorrow.

She has a catheter because the swelling is so bad she can’t pee.

She also got a few suppositories today and through tonight to help get that air out.

She’s also on CPAP right now to keep her from dropping.

I will update you all tomorrow but keep this sweet baby in your thoughts.

She is miserable.

update:

Dixie Update: 5/27/23

This whole thing just got extended out two more months.

Because she had the Rhino Virus

The surgeons will not accept her for the procedure until she is 4-6 weeks post virus. They decided that she needs a stronger immune system for the operation, so… time.

that means she can’t come home in the mean time because if she were to rip her tube out in the middle of night…they live an hour from town.

Original message:

Hello friends and family.

I am Crystal Raby, Hailey’s mom.

Zack and Hailey gave birth to sweet Dixie six weeks early. Due to her premature birth, she has spent the last 6.5 weeks in the hospital.

Very early on they realized something was critically wrong with how Dixie was unable to eat without her heart rate dropping (Brady’s) and unable to breathe (Destats). She was diagnosed with a severe form of reflux called GERD.

The GERD is complicated as well by her underdeveloped floppy air way “Strider”.

Currently the doctors and Dixie’s mom and dad have decided to opt for a stomach surgery to fix the issue called a Nissen Fundoplication.

After the surgery Dixie will need more time in the hospital to recover and she will!

Meanwhile this has been an expensive journey for the family of 5 including Holland who is 4 and Lane who is 2.

They are juggling a farm at home an hour from the hospital, two toddlers and a baby in the hospital.

Zack has not been able to work as much although he is trying to split some time between staying at the hospital and work.

We are so blessed to know Dixie will recover and all will be fine once we get them through this hard spot.

The money raised for the family will go towards continued gas/travel expenses, food, bills, extracurricular activities for the kids while they are at the hospital to keep them entertained, medical supplies for Dixie’s Gtube, and the follow up care with specialist after Dixie’s surgery.

We really appreciate everyone’s support through this not ideal circumstance.