Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
After difficult birth, family is ready to mark Mother’s Day with its miracle baby
When Johanna Spellacy entered this world Feb. 7, it was anything but routine. ¶ Her first-time mother, Jessica Spellacy, was at work when she suddenly went into labor — a full two weeks before the baby’s due date. ¶ Mom was in so much pain and so scared that she dared not open her eyes as she was rushed by ambulance to University Medical Center. ¶ Doctors quickly realized all was not well and scrambled to save the baby’s life. ¶ Johanna was breech; she delivered upside down and backwards, instead of headfirst. She was not breathing. ¶ But the little girl was a fighter, and the doctors and nurses skilled. ¶ They forced air into Johanna’s tiny lungs, and she took her first breath before she was whisked away to the newborn intensive care unit. ¶ At that point, all Jessica Spellacy and her husband, Brandon, could do was wait and hope. ¶ “It was just a very tense waiting game for several days,” Brandon Spellacy recalled. “We were hoping that nobody would come in and tell us to say goodbye. But, the girl survived. She got better every day.” ¶ And after 11 days, baby Johanna was finally ready to go home. ¶ Fast forward three months, and the Spellacy family, including Johanna, were back at the hospital, but this time for a happier occasion. ¶ The doctors and nurses gave a standing ovation and the ambulance crew crowded around to see the adorable 3-month-old with bright blue eyes and a thin layer of light brown hair on her head. ¶ It was the first time since Johanna was born that Jessica and Brandon Spellacy and she reunited with the medical professionals who saved her life. It was the perfect Mother’s Day reunion.
They attended a ceremony Tuesday to recognize the Las Vegas Fire & Rescue team who kept the baby and mother alive on the way to the hospital.
Cathryn Delee, clinical director of UMC Maternal and Child Services, presented certificates to Capt. Nicholas Pavelka, paramedics Casey Taylor and Chaisson Low, and advanced emergency medical technicians Ryan Ruther, Brian Dietz and Andrew Gagliardo.
The family also met with the labor and delivery team that helped Jessica Spellacy give birth and those who cared for Johanna in the intensive care unit.
Pavelka said they received “a routine pregnancy call” that may have indicated Jessica Spellacy was in active labor, but nothing clued him to the possibility of a breech delivery.
Only 3%-4% of full-term births occur in the breech position, according to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. A breech birth can be dangerous because the umbilical cord, which delivers blood and oxygen to the baby, could become pinched — suffocating the baby or leading to other serious complications, the organization said.
After realizing the baby was in the breech position, Pavelka’s team of paramedics and Advanced EMTS held the “presenting parts” away from the umbilical cord to prevent it from being obstructed, he said. It’s a move that doctors say saved Johanna’s life.
Although paramedics are trained in the academy on how to deal with active labor, Pavelka said that this type of situation was “extremely rare.” In his almost 15 years of being in the profession, this was his first prehospital delivery and breech birth.
Within one minute after arriving at UMC, Jessica Spellacy delivered Johanna, but the baby was not breathing. Labor and delivery nurses quickly descended upon the scene to resuscitate Johanna, then admitted her into the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Those minutes after Johanna was born, and the waiting game after while in the NICU, left the parents “in a bad spot,” the mother said.
“I was just trying to support (Jessica Spellacy) the best I could, but at the same time, I’m, like, rushing,” Brandon Spellacy said.
On Tuesday afternoon, the family and medical professional finally reunited.
The Spellacy family also met with the NICU team that cared for Johanna during her 11-day stay.
Throughout the thousands of calls they receive in their careers, Pavelka said the Spellacys will “have a lifelong impact” on him and his entire team. He not only was excited for the new parents but found it “awesome” to reunite with the family after such a “fateful outcome.”
“Being a father myself, having two children of my own, I mean, again, I couldn’t be more elated for both mom and dad,” Pavelka said. “They look like incredible parents already and she’s very lucky to have the family that she does. It brings us a lot of joy.”
Since her release from UMC, Brandon and Jessica Spellacy said they’ve been enjoying each milestone with Johanna — from introducing her to their three dogs, to the baby’s first smile. The parents are already planning for their daughter’s third birthday party, Jessica explained excitedly.
It’ll be a trip to Disneyland, where the parents are hoping to get the iconic black-and-white stencil outline of Johanna in the park as well as style her in princess dresses from the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique — named after the fairy godmother’s chant when she provides Cinderella with her ball gown in the movies.
Brandon Spellacy said he is excited to teach Johanna how to swim, and finally pull out his “Achievement Unlocked: Become a Daddy” shirt that he’s had in his closet for years.
They’re also thinking of giving Johanna a sibling, even despite their scary delivery experience.
Regardless, Jessica and Bran
don Spellacy are making sure to savor every moment with their daughter.
“I didn’t think I’d ever be a mom, and honestly, I was kind of scared of the title of being a mom, but, I love being hers,” Jessica Spellacy said. “I have no
idea what I’m doing, but I’m still loving it. We’re just grateful and happy; the gratefulness never ends.”