Thank you for letting us meet our little girl': Couple hopes to raise CMV awareness you can read more details about our story at Riley's Blog | A blog about Riley's birth and first years a blog we started during my pregnancy.
www.stopcmv.com is another website that has great information on CMV during pregnancy and prevention.
Months ago, when Brittany Godbee envisioned this Christmas season, she imagined herself with the deeply round belly of a first-time mother-to-be.
But after the premature delivery and death of their baby girl last month, Brittany and her husband, Joe, are trying to paint a new picture for their future.
Still, through a remarkable story of persevering faith and hope, the Godbees feel blessed this holiday season ? and they have a mission to share.
?There is a reason for everything,? Brittany said. ?God has a plan for her, and for us.?
The journey begins?
Nov. 2 began like any other day for the Santa Rosa Beach couple.
The Godbees, who just celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary in October, were ?so excited to start a family.?
?We just got up and got ready for our normal ultrasound,? said Brittany, 25. ?It was really nothing out of the ordinary.?
The nurse noticed that ?Riley?s head was a little bit smaller than normal and a bit oblong.? While the doctor said that nothing was wrong, he recommended the Godbees check into it.
Instead of waiting for an appointment later in the week, the Godbees chose to see a specialist in Pensacola the next day.
?This is when we first meet Dr. James Thorp,? Brittany said. ?There were some things he didn?t like.?
It was initially thought to be an infection, like Parvo virus, causing the problems, so the doctors decided to run a Percutaneous Umbilical Blood Sampling (PUBS test) to determine what was wrong.
?This is when things started to get a little scary,? Brittany said. ?We called our pastor at Destiny Worship Center and prayed for support.
?They gave Riley a shot to keep her from moving,? she said. ?Then they put a needle in my stomach and drew her blood.?
As the doctor removed the needle, the injection site began to bleed heavily. That was not normal and proved to the doctors that Riley was severely anemic.
?Her platelet count was like 17,000,? Joe said. ?It should normally be closer to 200,000.?
The Diagnosis
On Nov. 16, two weeks after the Godbees began this journey, they would get the news they had been waiting for.
?They told us Riley had Cytomegalovirus,? Brittany said.
CMV is a common virus that affects most people at some time but rarely causes obvious illness. CMV is the most common virus transmitted to a pregnant woman?s fetus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Approximately 10 out of every 1,000 babies born in the United States will have CMV infection.
Twenty percent of babies with CMV symptoms die, according to the March of Dimes, while the other 80 to 90 percent can develop serious disabilities, such as mental retardation, cerebral palsy, or vision and hearing loss.
Treatment begins
Brittany was admitted to the hospital immediately to begin a daily series of CMV treatments.
?The treatment the doctor wanted to do was kind of cutting edge,? she said. ?They had to fly in a specialty drug for us.?
Since Riley?s platelet count was so low, the doctors immediately wanted to start Riley on the PUBS treatment.
?Basically they were going to be giving her a blood transfusion to help her platelet count,? Joe said.
Over the next several days, Brittany would continue to undergo treatments and meet with Dr. Thorp.
Dr. Thorp told the Godbees ?that everything was looking beautiful.?
A turn for the worse
The morning of Nov. 27, Riley?s heart rate began to fluctuate.
?It was going from the 170s down to the low 100s,? Joe said. ?She just wasn?t moving like she had been.?
Riley had fetal high drops, which is the prenatal form of heart failure.
?They told us they needed to deliver her right then? at 29 weeks, Brittany said. ?There was more they could do for her outside of the womb.?
Before she knew it, there were ?doctors everywhere and she was being prepped for surgery, signing papers and answering tons of questions.?
?They put me to sleep and performed the emergency C-section,? Brittany said.
Around 8 p.m., Joe was able to hold his new baby girl and spend time with Riley.
Brittany, still drowsy from the surgery, was in recovery taking pictures with family and friends.
?I was so happy,? she said. ?The doctors told me I would get to see Riley in the morning.?
But two hours after the birth of their baby girl, Riley would be taken away from the Godbees.
?A nurse came in my room and told me that Riley wasn?t going to make it,? Brittany said as her voice trembled. ?They wheeled me into the NICU and I got to see her.?
Choosing not to hold her at that moment, Brittany touched Riley?s hand.
?She was so little and perfect,? she said. ?I got to see her beautiful wavy hair and touch her hand. I was at peace at that moment and knew she was going to heaven.?
Beginning to cope
The Godbees have been on an emotional roller coaster since coming home, but they have found comfort in family and faith.
?We are blessed to have had the time with Riley that we did,? Brittany said. ?We thank God daily for the comfort he has given us.?
She said that ?we will have our moments,? but she believes that there is a supernatural strength guiding them.
?I can?t say that most people, a week after losing their child, would be up and around and of a clear mind,? she said in an interview earlier this month.
The Godbees? family even set up their Christmas tree before they came home from the hospital.
?We don?t want to let this dampen the holidays,? Brittany said. ?We have just been trying to stay busy.?
The Godbees have said that this tragedy won?t stop them from trying again to have a child, although they don?t yet know when.
?We talked about it,? Brittany said. ?We don?t want to give up.?
Their new mission
Now, the Godbees hope to use their experience to raise awareness of this little-known virus.
?People need to know what CMV is,? Brittany said. ?They need to know how to prevent this from happening to them.?
Brittany and Joe had never heard of the virus before their tragedy, which is not unusual. In a 2008 survey, it was reported that only 14 percent of women in the United States have heard of CMV.
Research also indicates that fewer than half of all obstetricians talk to their pregnant patients about CMV, according to a 2008 report in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
To prevent CMV, pregnant women should avoid kissing young children on the mouth or cheek. They should make sure to wash their hands thoroughly after contact with urine, nasal secretions and the saliva of young children, especially after changing diapers, wiping noses or drool, and picking up toys. It is also recommended to avoid sharing food, drinking glasses and eating utensils with young children, according to the CDC.
?The main thing we want to get across is that CMV is preventable,? Joe said.
He added that most doctors won?t even tell you about CMV.
?We want to raise awareness so doctors will have to start testing for CMV,? Brittany said. ?We would like to partner up with other groups to spread the word.?
The Godbees want to make sure that nobody else has to go through the pain that they did.
?We don?t want Riley?s death to be for nothing,? Joe said. ?We have the strength to get out there and make our story known.?
WANT TO HELP?
The Godbees have secured the Web site cmvawareness.com, where you will be able to get facts and donate funds for research.
They have also set up a nonprofit account where donations can be made. Donations can be sent to CMV Awareness Inc., 102 Whispering Pines Ct. Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., 32459. Or you can go directly to Wachovia Bank: Account number 200042493275
www.stopcmv.com is another website that has great information on CMV during pregnancy and prevention.
Months ago, when Brittany Godbee envisioned this Christmas season, she imagined herself with the deeply round belly of a first-time mother-to-be.
But after the premature delivery and death of their baby girl last month, Brittany and her husband, Joe, are trying to paint a new picture for their future.
Still, through a remarkable story of persevering faith and hope, the Godbees feel blessed this holiday season ? and they have a mission to share.
?There is a reason for everything,? Brittany said. ?God has a plan for her, and for us.?
The journey begins?
Nov. 2 began like any other day for the Santa Rosa Beach couple.
The Godbees, who just celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary in October, were ?so excited to start a family.?
?We just got up and got ready for our normal ultrasound,? said Brittany, 25. ?It was really nothing out of the ordinary.?
The nurse noticed that ?Riley?s head was a little bit smaller than normal and a bit oblong.? While the doctor said that nothing was wrong, he recommended the Godbees check into it.
Instead of waiting for an appointment later in the week, the Godbees chose to see a specialist in Pensacola the next day.
?This is when we first meet Dr. James Thorp,? Brittany said. ?There were some things he didn?t like.?
It was initially thought to be an infection, like Parvo virus, causing the problems, so the doctors decided to run a Percutaneous Umbilical Blood Sampling (PUBS test) to determine what was wrong.
?This is when things started to get a little scary,? Brittany said. ?We called our pastor at Destiny Worship Center and prayed for support.
?They gave Riley a shot to keep her from moving,? she said. ?Then they put a needle in my stomach and drew her blood.?
As the doctor removed the needle, the injection site began to bleed heavily. That was not normal and proved to the doctors that Riley was severely anemic.
?Her platelet count was like 17,000,? Joe said. ?It should normally be closer to 200,000.?
The Diagnosis
On Nov. 16, two weeks after the Godbees began this journey, they would get the news they had been waiting for.
?They told us Riley had Cytomegalovirus,? Brittany said.
CMV is a common virus that affects most people at some time but rarely causes obvious illness. CMV is the most common virus transmitted to a pregnant woman?s fetus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Approximately 10 out of every 1,000 babies born in the United States will have CMV infection.
Twenty percent of babies with CMV symptoms die, according to the March of Dimes, while the other 80 to 90 percent can develop serious disabilities, such as mental retardation, cerebral palsy, or vision and hearing loss.
Treatment begins
Brittany was admitted to the hospital immediately to begin a daily series of CMV treatments.
?The treatment the doctor wanted to do was kind of cutting edge,? she said. ?They had to fly in a specialty drug for us.?
Since Riley?s platelet count was so low, the doctors immediately wanted to start Riley on the PUBS treatment.
?Basically they were going to be giving her a blood transfusion to help her platelet count,? Joe said.
Over the next several days, Brittany would continue to undergo treatments and meet with Dr. Thorp.
Dr. Thorp told the Godbees ?that everything was looking beautiful.?
A turn for the worse
The morning of Nov. 27, Riley?s heart rate began to fluctuate.
?It was going from the 170s down to the low 100s,? Joe said. ?She just wasn?t moving like she had been.?
Riley had fetal high drops, which is the prenatal form of heart failure.
?They told us they needed to deliver her right then? at 29 weeks, Brittany said. ?There was more they could do for her outside of the womb.?
Before she knew it, there were ?doctors everywhere and she was being prepped for surgery, signing papers and answering tons of questions.?
?They put me to sleep and performed the emergency C-section,? Brittany said.
Around 8 p.m., Joe was able to hold his new baby girl and spend time with Riley.
Brittany, still drowsy from the surgery, was in recovery taking pictures with family and friends.
?I was so happy,? she said. ?The doctors told me I would get to see Riley in the morning.?
But two hours after the birth of their baby girl, Riley would be taken away from the Godbees.
?A nurse came in my room and told me that Riley wasn?t going to make it,? Brittany said as her voice trembled. ?They wheeled me into the NICU and I got to see her.?
Choosing not to hold her at that moment, Brittany touched Riley?s hand.
?She was so little and perfect,? she said. ?I got to see her beautiful wavy hair and touch her hand. I was at peace at that moment and knew she was going to heaven.?
Beginning to cope
The Godbees have been on an emotional roller coaster since coming home, but they have found comfort in family and faith.
?We are blessed to have had the time with Riley that we did,? Brittany said. ?We thank God daily for the comfort he has given us.?
She said that ?we will have our moments,? but she believes that there is a supernatural strength guiding them.
?I can?t say that most people, a week after losing their child, would be up and around and of a clear mind,? she said in an interview earlier this month.
The Godbees? family even set up their Christmas tree before they came home from the hospital.
?We don?t want to let this dampen the holidays,? Brittany said. ?We have just been trying to stay busy.?
The Godbees have said that this tragedy won?t stop them from trying again to have a child, although they don?t yet know when.
?We talked about it,? Brittany said. ?We don?t want to give up.?
Their new mission
Now, the Godbees hope to use their experience to raise awareness of this little-known virus.
?People need to know what CMV is,? Brittany said. ?They need to know how to prevent this from happening to them.?
Brittany and Joe had never heard of the virus before their tragedy, which is not unusual. In a 2008 survey, it was reported that only 14 percent of women in the United States have heard of CMV.
Research also indicates that fewer than half of all obstetricians talk to their pregnant patients about CMV, according to a 2008 report in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
To prevent CMV, pregnant women should avoid kissing young children on the mouth or cheek. They should make sure to wash their hands thoroughly after contact with urine, nasal secretions and the saliva of young children, especially after changing diapers, wiping noses or drool, and picking up toys. It is also recommended to avoid sharing food, drinking glasses and eating utensils with young children, according to the CDC.
?The main thing we want to get across is that CMV is preventable,? Joe said.
He added that most doctors won?t even tell you about CMV.
?We want to raise awareness so doctors will have to start testing for CMV,? Brittany said. ?We would like to partner up with other groups to spread the word.?
The Godbees want to make sure that nobody else has to go through the pain that they did.
?We don?t want Riley?s death to be for nothing,? Joe said. ?We have the strength to get out there and make our story known.?
WANT TO HELP?
The Godbees have secured the Web site cmvawareness.com, where you will be able to get facts and donate funds for research.
They have also set up a nonprofit account where donations can be made. Donations can be sent to CMV Awareness Inc., 102 Whispering Pines Ct. Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., 32459. Or you can go directly to Wachovia Bank: Account number 200042493275
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