Steph and Gabe Grettenberger have wanted a child for years. In fact, Steph has talked to me about the future family she wished to have since we were roommates together years before she’d even met and married Gabe. Unfortunately, having a child was not easy for this couple. After years of wishing and hoping, they finally received the wonderful news that Stephanie was pregnant, and they would finally be able to start their family!
Like conception, pregnancy proved to be a difficult journey for Stephanie. Thanks to a double hip replacement years before, Stephanie’s blood contained the Kell antibody. Doctors worried that because of this, Stephanie’s body would consider the growing fetus a danger, and try to destroy it if left unchecked. In addition, as baby Izzy grew, she pressed up against Steph’s lungs and diaphragm, giving her an increasingly bad cough and making her short of breath. But, like the stubborn soldier she is, Steph pressed on through extra doctor visits to make sure that her body would handle the pregnancy and that baby Izzy would grow properly. At last, nine stressful months later, it was time for the baby to be born!
April 13th: Stephanie began labor. This continued through Sunday night and into Monday afternoon before a C-Section was deemed necessary because the baby’s heart was stopping when Stephanie would have contractions. Thankfully, the procedure went well and, at last, baby Izzy was here and their troubles were over, right? Sadly, it was only the beginning.
April 16 (Izzy 2 days old): At first, everything seemed to be going fine. Izzy was thankfully as healthy as they could wish for, and Stephanie seemed to be recovering. Then doctors noticed that her white blood cell count was high and, after a few tests, she was diagnosed with sepsis. Thankfully, after a few days of treatment, it was decided that Stephanie was able to go home and the little family set off to recover and begin building their life together.
May 20 (Izzy barely a month old): For a while now, Stephanie’s cough had been getting worse. At first, it didn’t seem to be that bad of a problem. After all, Steph had coughing problems during pregnancy, so perhaps this was linked to that, or she’d just gotten sick. Then it got worse. Breathing was difficult and eating almost impossible. Anything she was able to get down was almost immediately regurgitated. Gabe watched over both she and Izzy as they tried to discover what the problem was until finally Stephanie coughed up blood and he rushed her to the hospital where they received more bad news: Stephanie had blood clots in her lungs.
May 24: After four days in the hospital, Stephanie was sent home again, this time with an oxygen tank. Once more she and Gabe hoped that things were on the uphill and would soon go back to some sense of normalcy.
June 3: Izzy was dropped off at a babysitter for a few hours while Steph went to a routine doctor’s visit. That doctor’s visit ended with Stephanie being rushed to the ER because of an elevated heartrate and fluid surrounding both heart and lungs. She is currently still there.
The most recent message from her mom, Patty, said the following:
“The lasiks have been working on removing the fluid from her legs, calves and feet. Sometimes a painful process as it drains your system trying to remove the fluid. It wasn’t removing the fluid from her lungs so they did thoracentesis, manually inserting a needle in her lungs and sucking out the fluid. They removed 1 litter from her right lung. No fluid in the left lung. Since Tuesday her weight has gone from 115 to 97 lbs. She is totally exhausted, but true to being Steph, she is a fighter! She wanted to come home to Gabe & Izzy, so will do whatever it takes. ”
June 8 (Today): Doctors are hopeful that they can send Stephanie home once more, but sadly not because they’ve fixed the problem. Stephanie will be released on a hospital at home program. She will be receiving the same treatments that she was being given while in the hospital, but it will be done by her family. Daily she will be checked in by a nurse and lab unit, plus have a virtual visit with a doctor to check on her progress.
When checking details as I typed up this overview of the Grettenberger struggles, Gabe told me, “To sum up, baby is healthy and growing. Steph is fighting hard but needs time.” I would add that Gabe has also been fighting hard in his own way, trying to be physically present with his wife and newborn while also organizing help for them and working to provide the financial support they need to pay the bills, including the large pile of medical bills that has piled up from all of the hospital visits.
We all hope that this is the last hospital visit for a long time, but based on how things have gone, we’re unsure what the future will hold for this brand new little family. Anything that you can do to show your support would be both welcomed and greatly appreciated! Every little bit helps, including sharing this post so it reaches a wider audience.
In less than a week, on June 14th, Izzy will be celebrating her two month birthday. A perfect present would be to help her parents as they struggle through this difficult time.
