Oliver Lick
Hurricane Milton was an extremely powerful storm, considered a tropical cyclone that followed less than two weeks after the devastation of Hurricane Helene. The Tampa Bay community was ready to shelter through another big storm, including Amber Lick and her family.
Amber Lick was 37 weeks pregnant with her third child and her pregnancy was going smoothly. She had complications in her first two pregnancies, so she was a bit nervous with her third, especially with a storm approaching.
Amber and her husband were working for the same skilled nursing facility just down the road from Brandon Hospital. They were together, sheltered at work during the storm. Amber had dropped her two children off at her aunt’s house to be safe through the storm while they worked.
Amber didn’t know what labor felt like and she thought maybe she was having Braxton Hicks in the middle of the night. She had two C-sections previously.
“It was scary due to my first two, I had some major complications. Both were born early, 31 weeks and 35 weeks with preeclampsia,” said Amber Lick. “I would drink some water and change my position. I did that for about an hour. Nothing changed. It gradually started intensifying. The more I moved the more painful it would feel. I chose to stay laying down. I started to keep track of my contractions and breathing through them.”
The hurricane was in full force and it was not an option to leave for the hospital until the storm winds slowed. Amber tried to remain calm through the labor-like pains. At 3:30 a.m., Amber and her husband drove the short distance to Brandon Hospital through flooded roads and downed power lines. They entered the hospital through the emergency room doors.
Emergency delivery of Oliver
Amber arrived in OB triage in extreme discomfort and her abdominal pain was increasing in intensity.
“She came in after the lockdown and the storm had passed. By the time she got to us, Amber’s abdominal pain was severe. First year resident, Dr. Lauren Robertson identified that Oliver’s heart tones were down and he had low fetal oxygenation.” said third year resident, Dr. Emily Richter. “She had high-risk factors for a uterine rupture.”
After conferring with senior residents and the program director of Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Dr. James Baron, a stat C-section was called. An attending physician is always closely following resident care.
“In the C-section, the uterine rupture was evident. It is pretty rare. It was the first time I had seen a uterine rupture in three years of my residency,” said fourth year resident, Dr. Valario Johnson. According to the National Institute of Health, the rate of uterine rupture is approximately 1% for women with one previous cesarean delivery versus 3.9% for those with greater than one previous cesarean delivery. In the event of a uterine rupture, both mom and baby are at risk for losing their lives due to blood loss for the mom and lack of oxygen to the baby.
When Amber woke up from surgery, she looked at her husband and asked where their baby was. He calmed her fears and her nurse explained everything that had happened.
“The rest of that day, it was a whirlwind of emotions. I felt like I was my own hurricane. One memorable moment was when I was finally able to have cell service and had to start calling my family. I broke down to my dad. He is my best friend and always has been. It hurt so much to cry. But I couldn’t control it,” said Amber.
Baby Oliver – After delivery
Baby Oliver was born not breathing and although difficult to know exactly, it’s estimated he could have gone 24 minutes without or with partial oxygen to his brain.
The NICU team gave baby Oliver chest compressions and after four minutes, his heart rate returned to normal. He had a breathing tube inserted to help him breath.
“This is what we do. We all have defined roles in these emergency cases,” said Dr. Emily Ellis, physician assistant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Brandon Hospital. “As scary and traumatic as the delivery was. We were well-trained to handle it.”
The NICU team started the process to “cool” baby Oliver to decrease the possible impact of the oxygen deprivation to his brain. They cool babies to 92 degrees Fahrenheit for exactly 72 hours. Although Oliver had a traumatic birth, he was a healthy weight and a good size, so physicians said he had a fighting chance to recover.
They rewarmed Oliver for six hours and closely monitored him, since physicians say it is during this time seizures can occur. Thankfully, baby Oliver emerged from the cooling process well and when his results came back from his MRI, miraculously they were normal.
Oliver is now home, doing everything developmentally on track.
Amber says it simply, “The NICU team had their A-game that night and we are so grateful.”
“I went to the NICU to visit the baby, since it was the first time I delivered a baby that coded. It was traumatic. I wanted to make sure he was doing OK,” said Richter.
“It was a miracle. Storms bring about crazy things,” said Johnson. “We read about these situations like uterine ruptures in our text books, then we saw the symptoms in Amber’s case, something we may not see again for years. It will prepare us for the future.”
Residency basics
Obstetrics and gynecology residency is a four-year program. Residents work in teams with more junior residents paired with senior residents. Residents rotate in two major blocks, Obstetrics and Gynecology and then in subspecialty areas. Twenty residents are in Obstetrics and Gynecology at HCA Florida Brandon Hospital.