“I was so incredibly lucky to have my work family care for our sweet little Olive”
Ashley Traffis, APRN-CNP, has been a nurse practitioner in MetroHealth’s NICU since 2017. Her first daughter, Addy, was born at MetroHealth in 2019. Three years later, Ashley was pregnant again.
Because Ashley was 36 – considered “advanced maternal age” – she met with a genetic counselor and had a nuchal translucency test (NTT) in her 11th week to rule out any anomalies in the fetus.
Soon afterward, maternal-fetal medicine specialist Angela Ranzini, MD, discussed the results with Ashley and her husband Brian. The likelihood that the fetus would be born with Trisomy 21, or Down Syndrome, was high. Dr. Ranzini also suspected the presence of a heart defect.
Ashley and Brian decided to have another genetic test, chorionic villus sampling (CVS). But there was no doubt in their minds that they were continuing their pregnancy, no matter what.
One week after the CVS test, the genetic counselor called with the results. Their unborn daughter had Down Syndrome.
On June 12, at 37 weeks, Ashley’s OB-GYN, Gregory Kitagawa, MD, induced labor out of concern for the high prevalence of pregnancy loss with Down Syndrome. At 11 a.m. the next day, OB-GYN Steven A. Weight, MD, delivered Baby Olivia – Olive for short.
Right away, Olive needed supplemental oxygen. As scary as it was for Ashley to see her colleagues rushing in the room with panicked looks on their faces, it was also comforting. “I knew she was in good hands.”
Within 24 hours of Olive’s birth, an earlier atrioventricular canal defect diagnosis was confirmed. The condition causes a hole in the center of the heart and leads to permanent heart failure and high blood pressure in the lungs if left untreated.
She’d need open heart surgery soon.
After being discharged from the hospital, Ashley stayed in the NICU with Olive.
Olive went home on July 3 after 21 days. She was still on medications for her heart failure, but no longer needed supplemental oxygen or a feeding tube. Feedings continued to be difficult.
Olive had her first pediatric appointment a few days later. Ruth R. Villarosa, MD, a pediatric palliative care doctor who specializes in treating children with medically complex needs, went over the pressing concerns – Olive’s weight struggle and heart health.
When Olive was two months old, she began seeing pediatric cardiologist Daniel Pasternack, DO, who holds a dual appointment at MetroHealth and University Hospitals.
Still struggling to gain weight, Olive had another feeding tube inserted.
Olive was three months old when her condition deteriorated even more.
On November 1, Olive had open-heart surgery at Cleveland Clinic.
Within days, Ashley saw Olive’s sunny personality reemerging. Ashley had experience in caring for infants with feeding tubes, numerous medications, oxygen and monitors, so Olive was able to go home after eight days.
Today, Olive is thriving. She gets physical therapy at MetroHealth with Laura Redman and occupational therapy with Tina Davis on a regular basis.
Olive may need additional heart surgery when she’s older. But for now, she’s doing well.
“I was so incredibly lucky to have my work family care for our sweet little Olive,” Ashley said.
Ashley and Olive are regulars at GiGi’s Playhouse, part of the Down Syndrome Achievement Centers network. Ashley also is a mentor to other moms she has met through the Down Syndrome Association of Northeast Ohio (DSANEO).
“Olive is definitely on her own timeline developmentally, but she is rocking every milestone she achieves,” Ashley said. “She is the most resilient little sweet angel.”
MetroHealth Heart & Vascular Center
Our team is also committed to state-of-the-art research that could help prevent or treat cardiovascular disease.
Appointments: 216-778-2328 (BEAT) Pediatric Appointments: 216-778-2222.
Do you want to help patients like Baby Olive? The MetroHealth Foundation is making a difference every day. Learn more or give at metrohealth.org/foundation.
