It was a crisp August morning when Pixie was welcomed into the world.
Weighing 2.7 kilos, Victorian parents Jenna and Sandon blissfully took her home to meet her five siblings, who were instantly attached to their little sister.
But one week after she was born, her mum Jenna began noticing a change in her breathing patterns and refusing to eat; a very different baby than days earlier.
Initially, Jenna thought it was just gas, but her gut told her something was wrong.
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Common cold landed newborn in hospital with “heart failure” and a collapsed lung
Living in rural Victoria, the children’s hospital was more than six hours away, so they took her to the Mildura Base Hospital. Upon arrival, doctors sent little Pixie to the paediatric ward.
By the time midnight rolled around, Pixie was in intensive care, and her body started shutting down. They were flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital, arriving at 2.30 in the afternoon.
It was there Pixie was diagnosed with rhinovirus, a virus that causes the common cold.
But as doctors continued monitoring the two-week-old baby, they discovered she also developed enterovirus, a respiratory infection, and myocarditis, an inflamed heart, usually caused by a viral infection.
“Both viruses are a common cold for older kids and adults, but to a baby with no immune system, as you can see, is quite devastating,” Mum Jenna shared on social media.
Her heart was in overdrive as her little body continued fighting the illnesses. Then her lungs collapsed, and she was “in a state of heart failure.”
“Her body is fighting so hard,” Jenna said. “They intubated so [the machine] can breathe for her, so her little body can rest.”
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“Nurses said to always trust a mother’s instinct”
The days went by, and Pixie’s condition was starting to show signs of improvement. Medical staff began weaning her off morphine, and her breathing tube was removed.
“The hardest thing as a parent to hear when I ask doctors if she’s going to be ok, and all they can tell me is ‘We hope so’,” Jenna said.
At three weeks old, nurses and doctors were overjoyed at the strides she was making.
Then as her mum was having lunch, she returned to a sea of doctors hovering over Pixie’s body, racing around and trying to keep the baby stable. “Everyone was rushing; they asked for someone to be on standby for CPR while they moved her wards,” she told 7News.
But she fought hard and stayed stable through the night, surprising doctors with her enduring attitude. “She’s a superstar!” her mum proudly declared.
At five weeks old, Pixie is now drinking from a bottle, has her blood pressure “under control”, and continues weaning her off pain medication.
“They weren’t wrong when they said she’d have a long journey ahead of her, but she’s alive, and that’s all we prayed for,” Jenna said.
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“I never thought a common cold could almost kill a baby”
While Pixie recovers in hospital, her parents scramble to understand where she contracted the virus.
Jenna is now urging other parents to trust their gut with their kids, stressing it’s never an overreaction to seek medical assistance for a sick child.
“[The nurses] said to always trust a mother's instinct, and we absolutely did the right thing at the right time bringing her to the hospital,” she said.
“[They said] my mum instinct saved her life ... had I waited 'til the next morning, we’d probably be telling a different story right now.
“Never in a million years thought a common cold could almost kill a baby.”
Friends of the Mildura family have set up a GoFundMe for support as they continue spending time in the Melbourne hospital, hours away from their home.
“We really thought we’d be coming home without her, but my god, what a fighter she is!” Jenna said.
