We moved to Rochester, MN from Florida one month before having our third child.
On October 3rd, 2017, my wife went into the labor and delivery unit at Mayo Clinic expecting to start the laboring process. In the triage room the nurse was unable to assess the baby’s heart rate, and ultrasound was used. His heart rate was very low and then was absent, and she was rushed back to an emergency cesarean section.
When our son was born he had no pulse and was not breathing, and required cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). It was at this time that I made it up to the operating room from my work unit, in the hospital. The neonatologist asked me if I would come speak to him. He told me that they had been trying to revive my son for 17 minutes; however, despite their best efforts, there was nothing else they could do. He told me that he would take me in to see my son, and would listen for a heart beat, and then let me hold him as he passed away. I walked into his room where they were performing CPR; the team paused so that the doctor could listen to his heart. Miraculously he had a heartbeat.
Because of the amount of time that our son’s, now named Levi, heart rate was depressed was unknown, and that blood flow to the brain while doing CPR is unreliable, the prognosis was very poor. The neonatologist said, “If his body can survive this, he will have significant brain damage.” I made the choice to take him to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), as my wife was still under anesthesia. The protocol was to keep his body temperature cold for 72 hours, and then get an MRI of his brain to assess the amount of damage that was sustained. That night I talked to our bishop, Scott Frei, on the phone, and he sent an email to our ward concerning Levi.
His email read:
Dear Ward Family,
I’m sad to report that Sister Tricia Sommers had to have an emergency C-section today. Her baby was delivered without a heartbeat, but the medical professionals were able to revive him after about 20 minutes. He is now in the NICU at St. Mary’s where he is on a ventilator undergoing cooling treatment. His prognosis is poor, but I feel to invite the ward to unite our hope and faith through fasting and prayer in petitioning Heavenly Father for the healing of this sweet baby, for a quick recovery for Sister Sommers and for strength and support for the entire Sommers family. I know that as we unite our faith we can draw upon the powers of Heaven and witness miracles, according to God’s will.
Given we have fast Sunday this week, my invitation to all is to move your fast in a few days to Wednesday or Thursday during this most critical time for the Sommers family. Please pass along the word and make sure your Home and Visiting teaching families are invited to join us as well.
Thank you for all of your love, support, faith and selflessness.
With love and appreciation,
Bishop Frei
The next 3 days were the worst that we had. Levi’s treatment was complicated by needing medication that helped his heart beat stronger, many, many seizures, and the need for a breathing tube. With each problem solved, it seemed moot, as it was the amount of brain damage that was the most important. He received a couple of Priesthood blessings. After one in particular, there was a change in the amount of bad news that we got, and that day, nothing negative happened. Although nothing got better, it was really important to us to have a day without more bad news.
After 72 hours Levi was warmed, and was able to go down for his MRI. A member of our ward was the anesthesiologist who was taking care of him, and it was nice to see him there taking care of our son. It meant a lot to us. We also were able to have another member of our ward working as a fellow in the NICU and he was so supportive and good to our family.
We had to wait until the afternoon to hear the results of the MRI. We had a conference with the healthcare team. The neurologist said, and we will never forget it, “It’s good. It’s really good.”
Levi had minimal damage to his brain. He would come home with us. Live a normal life. Be a normal kid. Although they did say that he would probably walk with a limp, it would not be severe. This baby that we thought would have so much brain damage that he would not survive was now going to be fine.
The next 9 days in the NICU were a breeze (compared to the first three). Levi started breathing on his own, stopped having seizures (with medication), and started eating.
Bishop Frei sent a follow-up email after the MRI. It read:
Dear Ward Family,
Thank you for your faith and prayers on behalf of little Levi Sommers and the Sommers family! Levi has been on cooling treatment for the past several days and they finally warmed him and took an MRI today to understand the extent of the damage caused from the lack of oxygen at his birth.
Here is what Brother Sommers shared with me today:
“We were able to meet this afternoon with the neurologist and neonatologist to review the results of the MRI. We sat down in a room full of doctors not knowing where on the spectrum of brain damage our sweet Levi would be. We didn’t know if we’d be able to bring this precious boy home with us. We have without doubt experienced a miracle from our Heavenly Father. We prayed and prayed for healing and Levi’s MRI results were as good as they could have been. The neurologist said for such a severe event he was VERY surprised by how good his brain looked. He said they were expecting a very different image to come through. Levi has two areas of damage in his brain, but he will live. He will come home with us. He will have ‘normal intelligence, eat, speak and walk normally.’ He will still struggle with seizures that will be controlled by medication. He will most likely have some deficits in either his right arm or leg. But we will be able to take him home and raise this miracle boy.”
I want to testify to you that indeed we have been blessed to be a part of a miracle. Such a positive outcome is quite remarkable, and I know it is the fasting and prayers that have made all the difference. I literally couldn’t contain the tears of gratitude to God when I heard the wonderful news. Thank you all for your outpouring of love and support. I’m confident Heavenly Father is smiling down on us as we have exercised our faith and trust in Him.
I ask that you please continue to pray for and support the Sommers family in the coming days and weeks as they begin the process of preparing Levi to come home. Tricia is doing well recovering from her C-section, but as you know that takes time to fully recover. And Levi will surely be in the NICU for an extended period of time as they decrease the seizure drugs, pull him off of the ventilator, and begin feeding him normally.
May God bless each of you for your faith and love. What a fantastic testimony-building experience we have shared together! THANK YOU!!!
With love,
Bishop Frei
We know that Levi’s results are a miracle from our Heavenly Father. There were so many things that had to happen for him to survive like the timing of Tricia going into the hospital. If it was even 3-5 minutes later, the nurses would not have been able to find the heartbeat at all, and Levi would be treated as a fetal demise. The timing of the neonatologist getting me, discussing that he would listen for Levi’s heart once more. If that was 2 minutes earlier, he would not have heard it. The study says that for neonatal resuscitation, you should consider stopping attempts after 10 minutes. Why did they continue? We are so grateful that they did.
We were so grateful for our sweet ward family rallying around us when we had barely moved into the ward. They didn’t know us yet. They fasted, prayed, brought meals, checked up on us, and helped in so many other ways.