Life began with fight against deadly bug
Our beautiful daughter, Mikela Elizabeth Angela Vetro, was born 10 days late on Nov. 15, 1994, on my father’s birthday — hence his namesake (Michael Menzies of Auckland, New Zealand). She was our third child and after two caesarean sections, I was determined to deliver naturally. I embarked on epic research, and with the support of my then-family physician, Dr. Art Hister, I set a course for that special delivery. Near the latter part of the pregnancy, I was referred to Dr. Vera Frinton, who then saw me through the remainder of the journey. When my water broke, my husband and I went straight to St. Paul’s. To my surprise, the doctor in attendance refused to see me — in his opinion, once a C-section, always a C-section.
Dr. Frinton agreed to see me through the ordeal, bunking down in a spare bed to check up on me periodically as my labour occurred on and off overnight. Once hard labour set in, she was there, along with my husband, Sal, encouraging me all the way. I remember being told to give one more push, and then the miracle of life happened — Mikela took her first breath in this world.
She was in our arms only briefly, being whisked away to the neonatal intensive care unit for observation. After a while we were informed that there were complications. Passing through the birth canal, Mikela had contracted Group B strep and needed massive doses of antibiotics. It was so sudden and so confusing. Apparently, I carried the bacterium and hadn’t been treated for it, and that is how Mikela picked it up. It was so heart-wrenching to see her little head shaved on one side, with the needle administering the antibiotics inserted there.
However, she was a feisty little one. Before long, she had somehow yanked out the needle. The nurses had to improvise, cutting a little medicine cup in half and taping it around the needle to prevent Mikela from getting at it. It was then that we knew she was a fighter, and that would stand her in good stead on the road to recovery.
Ten days later, Mikela was given the all-clear to go home. Finally, Mario and Rosie could get to hold their little sister and connect with her. We were so grateful for the excellent care of the staff in NICU. Their patience and dedication were outstanding.
Today, Mikela has just graduated from Lord Byng Secondary and is headed to the University of B.C. in the fall. She has suffered no after-affects from her birth ordeal, but perhaps has benefited from a little spoiling early on by her thankful parents.
Thank you, doctors and staff of St. Paul’s, for providing us with a happy ever after!