From Crisis to Comfort in the NICU

An emergency cesarean section turned Ashley Vaughn’s plans upside down. When her high blood pressure resulted in a placental abruption, she barely had time to make it to the local hospital.

“I thought I was having Braxton Hicks contractions,” said Ashley. “My co-worker encouraged me to go into the hospital. After following her advice, I was admitted to be monitored and quickly informed I was going to be having a baby that same day. I walked in with a water bottle and keys and my husband was four hours away for work. I had time to call my good friend, Robyn, and she barely made it in time for my procedure.”

Ashley hoped that her newborn son, Tucker, making his arrival five weeks early while her husband was still trying to get back to Paducah, was the worst of what she would face. When Tucker didn’t start crying and wasn’t able to be placed on her chest, she knew that this was only the beginning.

“The medical team took Tucker away before I was able to see my son,” said Ashley. “I was in such shock that I didn’t even realize what was going on, and the next thing I knew they were transporting him to Baptist Health Paducah to be admitted to the John and Loree Eckstein Neonatal Intensive Care unit (NICU). 

As Ashley watched her first and only child being wheeled away in a small incubator, she found comfort during an impossible situation as a member of the transport team took the time to tell her “we’re going to take really good care of him.”

“When someone promised me they would look after Tucker like their own, I felt a sense of relief that I didn’t think was going to be possible with our situation,” she said. “As heartbroken as I was to be separated from my child, the technology that Baptist Health Paducah has allowed me to use an online portal to access cameras within their NICU to lay eyes on my child for the first time while I was still in a hospital bed at another facility.”

After being released from her own hospital stay, Ashley was able to meet with the medical team providing care for Tucker at Baptist Health Paducah. “The physicians and nurses took the time to explain everything to me about what they were doing, the treatment that was needed, and ensured me that they were doing everything they could to get him ready to come home.”

“I never imagined the initial opportunity to hold my child coming days after he was born into this world,” Ashley said. “Even with the delay, words can’t describe that feeling. The sense of love and peace that you get from being close to your child can’t be put into words. Without the guidance and assurance from Baptist Health staff, I don’t know how I could have handled this situation.”

After a few weeks of being in the NICU, Tucker was finally able to come home, and the Vaughns were able to begin their life as a family of three.

“It was evident in how the professionals at Baptist Health Paducah cared for my son and how they helped me, whether it was middle-of-the-night phone calls or turning on a camera so I could watch him sleep; this was where we were meant to be. From being able to avoid travel to see my son during his weeks of in-hospital care to the compassion they showed our family as we navigated unexpected circumstances, Baptist Health went above and beyond, and they were truly there to support us each step of the way, and that is something that I will never forget.”