When an ultrasound revealed that Emily McCardle of Summerside, PEI was nine and a half weeks pregnant, she was shocked. Having been told by her doctor five years earlier that she likely couldn’t have children, this was news she never expected.
That shock quickly turned to excitement as she and her partner, Andy Adams, shared their news with family and friends and prepared for the arrival of their child.
Over the course of the next ten weeks Emily experienced complications and was admitted to her local hospital for observation. After her 20-week ultrasound didn’t provide doctors with any answers, she was sent to the IWK Health Centre.
At 22 weeks pregnant, Emily arrived at the IWK. Her care team placed her on strict bed rest — they believed her baby was going to deliver early and wanted to do whatever they could to prevent that from happening. But one week later, Emily went into labour.
On April 25, Paizlee Rose Adams arrived in the world weighing only one pound, and was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Though small, she had a fighting spirit that helped her on a long journey ahead. Like many premature babies, Paizlee's lungs weren't fully developed and she also had a vessel in heart that failed to close after birth.
In addition to needing an incubator, Paizlee required high-flow oxygen to breathe. After weeks of observation determined that her heart vessel was not closing over, seven-week-old Paizlee had surgery to fix it.
For the next three and a half months, Paizlee remained a patient in the NICU as she slowly gained weight and her oxygen flow was reduced.
On August 3, Paizlee began her journey toward home — as her condition steadily improved she was transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown, PEI. Just over a month later, she was transferred to Prince County Hospital in Summerside.
After 187 days in the hospital (and a brief return visit to the IWK) Paizlee was able to go home on October 29.
Today, Paizlee is happily settled into her own bedroom, enjoys snuggling with her two dogs and is beginning to roll over.
