One-year-old Oaklynn continues to wow her family and doctors with her progress
by Lynn Colburn
Oaklynn McDermand turned one on Feb. 24. A first birthday is an amazing celebration for every baby, but with Oaklynn it is no less than miraculous!
“With the condition Oaklynn was in while in the womb,” explains her father, Micheal McDermand, “the doctors told us that she only had about a 1% chance of surviving birth.” This is a terrifying thought for any parent, let alone while in the midst of a first pregnancy!
Mother Mariah McDermand starts from the beginning and says, “We found out we were pregnant with Oaklynn July 11, 2022. Then, I believe in November 2022, they noticed her arms and legs were shorter and they suspected that she had some time of dwarfism. So, in December, I had an amniocentesis to do a genetic test on Oaklynn and everything was negative on that.”
Amniocentesis, a prenatal test that remove amniotic fluid and cells from around the baby in the uterus, can provide useful information about a baby’s health, according to the Mayo Clinic. Health care providers sometimes recommend amniocentesis to diagnose or rule out genetic conditions associated with unusual ultrasound findings.
Mariah McDermand takes a deep breath and explains, “The beginning of February 2023 we had another growth scan and the doctors were concerned with her [Oaklynn’s] chest size not being compatible with life and her not being able to breathe on her own. So, they prepared us for the worst. The doctors went through our options of what we wanted at birth and what to expect if Oaklynn was born with all of these complications.”
McDermand was put on bed rest starting February 10 because she had preeclampsia. A complication of pregnancy, mothers with preeclampsia can have high blood pressure, high levels of protein in the urine that indicates kidney damage or other signs of organ damage. Treatment includes careful monitoring and medications to lower blood pressure and manage complications; early delivery is often recommended.
She says, “We went to the hospital on February 23 and I was induced because I had high blood pressure. Oaklynn wasn’t tolerating contractions, so I had a c-section.” Oaklynn was born February 24, 2023, at 4:39 p.m., weighing only 4 pounds, 12 ounces.
Because of the odds of survival being slim if all the complications were correct, Mariah McDermand says, “We had one of our church members there with us in the operating room and he baptized Oaklynn the second she came out of the womb and was praying over Michael and Oaklynn as the doctors were resuscitating her.” Doctors had to begin resuscitation as soon as Oaklynn was born.
After reviving her, Oaklynn went directly to the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and that the family spent the next 66 days in the HSHS St. John’s Hospital NICU.
Mariah McDermand continues, “And while in the NICU we discovered she had an adrenal disorder as well, so she coded on day six of life again and they had to resuscitate her. Now she is on medication for life with that.”
Michael McDermand says, “I’d be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to thank and recognize the absolutely amazing and fantastic work done by the St. John’s NICU team, because without them Oaklynn wouldn’t be here and we owe everything we have with her we owe to them and we are forever in their debt because they did such an amazing job with her.”
“Every doctor, every nurse, every respiratory therapist and even the housekeeping team were just so compassionate and made sure that our needs were met as well as Oaklynn’s needs,” adds Mariah McDermand.
“In April, we decided to have a feeding tube placed because she wasn’t doing well with eating her bottles,” she reveals.
The couple was able to take Oaklynn home from the NICU on May 2, 2023. They share that although Oaklynn came home on oxygen and with a feeding tube, but she was home.
Mariah McDermand is an emergency room nurse, so she has experience with many similar situations. “On Memorial Day weekend,” she states, “Oaklynn choked on her own vomit and we had to do CPR on her right there in our room.”
Michael McDermand exclaims, “I just want to highlight that Mariah literally saved her life! As someone who doesn’t have the same kind of medical experience as Mariah, it was just like second nature for her. I saw a side of her that I imagine would have been exactly the same as her in the emergency room. And it was a side of her I had never seen. She just sprang into action and it came so naturally to her. All the while, she is telling me to do all these different things and I was running around trying to figure out what to do and she just seemed like she was in her element.”
Mariah McDermand confirmed that no, she wasn’t calm, but training kicked in and she knew what she had to do.
Michael McDermand says, “The CPR training is so important, you never know who it is going to happen to.” “After that, Mariah continues, “we were in the pediatric ICU for four days.”
The McDermands say that Oaklynn has been pretty healthy since Memorial Day. Mariah McDermand says, “She has had a few hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses and vomiting. And we go to physical therapy, feeding therapy and occupational therapy every week for Oaklynn to get stronger.”
“We just can’t believe she will turn one on February 24, 2024,” both say. Their little girl beat the odds!
Michael McDermand expresses in amazement, “Every little milestone just reminds us that she wasn’t supposed to be here.”
“There is no milestone too small! She is now 19 pounds, 10 ounces now and she has grown 10 inches!” Mariah McDermand adds proudly.
“We just got her first walker,” says Michael McDermand with a little awe in his voice. “Her little feet can almost touch the ground. She’s not the 4-pound, 12-ounce baby she was in the NICU.”
Mariah McDermand says, “The doctors are very hopeful and just thrilled with the progress that Oaklynn has made after everything she has been through during this first year of life; She has really shown us that she has a strong will to live and will get through whatever battles she is put through.”
The McDermands are a family of faith and have leaned on their love and deep faith to help get them through the past year.
Mariah McDermand declares about Oaklynn, “She is the light of our world, everything we do is because of her.”
Both parents light up when asked about Oaklynn. “Oaklynn is sassy! (They both laugh.) She has the brightest eyes and is just the happiest baby I’ve ever met,” says Mariah McDermand.
“She also has an abnormally large amount of hair,” says her father, affectionately. “Yes, her hair is brown and thick. We love putting it in piggy tails,” adds Mom.
Dad also says, “She loves to watch Bluey and Miss Rachel (a YouTuber). And she also takes after her dad a little bit and likes to watch football already.”
The couple confirmed Oaklynn watched the Super Bowl game (rooting for the Chiefs). Michael McDermand says, “Also, through her mommy influence, she learned how to watch Miss Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce.”
“Oaklynn loves going to Target, loves to shop, loves stuff animals and blankies,” Mariah McDermand says while laughing at the Taylor Swift comment.
Dad chimes in, “Definitely blankies! Any time we put a blanket over her lap, she will grab it and put it up to her face to feel the softness of the blanket. She is just the happiest baby I’ve ever seen like Mariah says. You would think that she would be too young to understand anything that has happened in her life, she acts as though she knows everything and she is just so grateful to be here. Obviously, I know that she doesn’t quite understand the full extent of it, but that is just in her nature. She is going to be a happy baby, a happy person and appreciative of everything. She is going to know her story and I think she will be humbler and even more appreciative than she already is. She is going to be a wonderful person.”
The McDermands say they are fortunate to not need financial assistance. They also have fantastic support from their extended families and friends who have helped them through the entire process.
Michael McDermand says, “In all aspects we have been very fortunate, as many aren’t.”
He adds, “We are appreciative of the reach of her story and the number of people who love Oaklynn and support her. Anyone interested in doing so can make a donation in her name to St. John’s NICU. There are always mothers and families who don’t have what we have, who need a little bit of extra help. Ever since Oaklynn’s been born, we’ve wanted to help out the NICU Department and all the amazing work they do giving back to mothers and families that are less fortunate than we are. So, if I were to encourage people to help in any way, I would say put that focus on the NICU Department at St. John’s. We donate Oaklynn’s old clothes and diapers she has grown out of. They need monetary help as well as clothes, diapers and bottles.”
Mariah McDermand builds on her husband’s sentiment, “St. John’s team of NICU doctors and nurses and the entire staff are the very essence of compassion. They cried with us on our worst days and cheered with us on our best days.”
The couple is also still learning about Oaklynn. “They did more genetic testing on Oaklynn’s umbilical cord blood and discovered she was missing a gene,” explains Mariah McDermand. “The doctors tested both Michael and I, and it turns out I am a carrier, but I don’t have any symptoms. It is called IMAGe Syndrome, and is exceedingly rare, only about 35 people in the U.S. have it. It is not definitive yet, we go back in July to get another update, but she is most consistent with that syndrome. She is the most consistent with a mixture of all the symptoms she has including Skeletal Dysplasia, the adrenal deficiency and her growth restriction in the womb.”
These are proud parents. Mariah and Michael McDermand have so much love and caring that is shines through them and reverberates in their daughter. They have all been through so much in the past year. We all wish them the best in their life together, and joy and happiness to come in their lives as they move ahead.
“Every day is a blessing with [Oaklynn] in our life,” Michael McDermand says.
