Tradwife influencer Estee Williams shared heartbreaking news about her infant daughter as she asked for prayers and support in a Christmas Eve update.
Williams, who has more than 300,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, posted a photo from the hospital on Wednesday, showing her three-month-old daughter’s legs in one corner, with various lines running from the baby’s body to a nearby machine.
‘My little Estelle went into cardiac arrest in the middle of the night,’ Williams captioned the photo. ‘Chest compressions were done for 47 minutes and she’s now on full life support (ECMO).
‘Please keep my sweet girl in your prayers,’ she continued, adding, ‘This next week is a scary time as we see what her next option will be.’
Williams and her husband, Conner, welcomed their daughter on September 5.
But about 14 hours after she was born, a hospital pediatrician detected a heart murmur, and baby Estelle would go on to fail two oxygen tests as she spent five days in the NICU, according to an online fundraiser started by the girl’s grandmother, Holly Nielsen.
‘During that time, doctors discovered something no parent is ever prepared to hear. Baby E had two ventricular septal defects – two holes in the walls of her heart,’ it says.
Even after Estelle was able to leave the NICU, her grandmother wrote, ‘her first weeks at home were filled with constant monitoring and weekly cardiology appointments and echocardiograms.
Tradwife influencer Estee Williams shared heartbreaking news about her infant daughter, Estelle, as she asked for prayers and support
She posted a photo on her Instagram Stories from the hospital on Wednesday, showing her three-month-old daughter’s legs in one corner, with various lines running from the baby’s body to a nearby machine
‘By her second week, she was already on Lasix [a diuretic] and then potassium was added as her heart and lungs worked overtime.’
‘She began refusing breastfeeding and required bottles of breast milk fortified with powdered formula to add desperately needed calories. She would gain a few ounces, only to lose them again.’
Soon, the baby also developed a cough and became fatigued, ‘sleeping a lot more than an infant would,’ which her grandmother said ‘were all signs that her tiny heart and lungs were struggling.
‘We hope that by sharing her story, we can help others recognize these signs early,’ Nielsen said. ‘Congenital heart defects like VSDs aren’t always seen on ultrasound.’
The condition is common amongst newborns, and smaller VSD holes can close naturally, causing the infant no problems, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Infants with larger VSDs, though, may need surgery to prevent complications.
Such was the case with baby Estelle, who underwent open-heart surgery on November 20.
When the surgeon then had her chest opened, he found that the upper VSD was ‘extremely large and rare’ while the lower VSD was smaller, but difficult to reach, Nielsen said.
She was soon diagnosed with two ventricular septal defects – holes in the walls of her heart
Williams and her husband, Conner, (pictured) welcomed their daughter on September 5
Surgeons then had to cut into her heart muscle to attach a patch to close the largest hole, as Estelle spent three hours and 46 minutes on a heart-lung bypass machine.
Since then, the infant has remained in the PICU, where she was placed on a breathing tube and supported by a pacemaker as she experienced ‘oxygen instability and heart rhythm issues.’
By December 13, the infant had to undergo a second open chest surgery, after which her breathing tube was removed.
‘Finally, after those long three weeks, Conner and Estee were able to finally hold their little girl for the first time,’ Nielsen wrote about her son and daughter-in-law in an update.
Four days later, though, Nielsen shared that her granddaughter may need to remain on a ventilator for longer than expected.
‘Taking everything into account, the possibility is being carefully considered [that] baby E ultimately will need… a heart transplant,’ the worried grandmother wrote.
‘At this time, no final decisions have been made, and we are all continuing to pray for a miracle.’
The young girl may now need a heart transplant, as her family waits to hear about the next steps they could take
The family is asking for donations to help with the child’s medical care and help them with lost wages as Conner takes off from his full-time and part-time jobs to watch over his child
But on Tuesday, Nielsen said doctors had to perform CPR on the little girl after she experienced ‘multiple dangerous spikes in her lactose levels.’
She described in the GoFundMe how her granddaughter suddenly turned blue overnight, prompting doctors to increase Estelle’s oxygen levels and give her more medication to try to stabilize her – only for her oxygen levels to once again plummet and the baby to turn gray.
Yet there were some signs of hope as an ultrasound showed Estelle did not suffer from a brain bleed and an EEG machine showed normal brain activity.
‘The next few days are incredibly critical,’ Nielsen wrote. ‘If she continues to stabilize, the next step would be transitioning to [ventricular assist devices]. At that point, she will need to show that her lungs can function fully on their own.
‘If she can do that, she will be eligible to be placed on the heart transplant list – a process that could take anywhere from three to six months.’
In the meantime, the family is asking for donations to help with the child’s medical care and help them with lost wages as Conner takes off from his full-time and part-time jobs to watch over his child.
As of Thursday, the online fundraiser had raised nearly $22,000 for the family.
