Caregivers at Centura–Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, Colorado, know that healthcare is more than medicine. Treating their patients means caring for the whole person–mind, body and spirit.
When Kaitlin and Brian Schmidt found out in February 2021 they were expecting their second child, they were overjoyed at what seemed to be a miracle. The Schmidts had undergone three failed IVF attempts in 2020, and had come to accept that their son, Adam, would be an only child, even giving away all of their baby gear in an attempt to start fresh in the new year.
Kaitlin’s pregnancy proved to be far from easy, however. Between a miscarriage scare in her second trimester and the need to move to hospitalized bedrest at 34 weeks, baby Stevie seemed determined to keep her parents on their toes. With just a month left to go until her due date, though, Kaitlin was off of bedrest, back at home with her family, and everything seemed to be progressing toward a healthy delivery.
Then, just a few days later, an ambulance rushed Kaitlin to Avista Adventist Hospital. Kaitlin was hemorrhaging, and Stevie was safely delivered via emergency C-section thanks to the quick work of the Avista labor and delivery team.
“It was so chaotic—it seemed like every person in the hospital rushed into that triage room,” Kaitlin recalled.
Stevie came into the world with a loud cry, and her nurses quickly dubbed her one of the spunkiest, sassiest babies they had delivered at Avista.
“I was so groggy and out of it when I finally met her,” Kaitlin said. “But we were just so relieved that she was here, and that she was okay. But then….she started to not be okay.”
Stevie began to show signs of what her caregivers suspected to be an infection, or worse. After a barrage of tests, a head ultrasound showed Stevie had a life-threatening bilateral brain bleed.
“It was just devastating,” Kaitlin said. “Her prognosis was really bleak, and there was nothing I could do to help her. I just kept wondering, Why is this happening to her? It’s so miraculous that she came here; we had to overcome so many obstacles just for her to come into this world, and it was really difficult to think Was it all for nothing?”
Shortly after Stevie’s diagnosis, as the family waited tearfully for a Flight for Life helicopter to transport Stevie to a local children’s hospital, the Schmidt family met Johnnathan Ward, director of Mission Integration and Chaplaincy at Avista. Johnnathan recognized the family’s feelings of fear and helplessness. He asked Stevie’s nurses to pause, and parents and caregivers prayed together.
“We knew we had done all we could medically, and as we waited for transport the only thing left to do was ask God to do His best and heal the child, and let Kaitlin and Brian know they were not alone,” Johnnathan said.
Stevie had a long journey, spending the next 45 days in the NICU. “We didn’t know for a long time what the outcome would be. In the beginning of our stay we had to have end of life conversations, and part of me was so angry. It was hard to have faith in a bigger picture,” Kaitlin said. “But we just took it day by day, and I was constantly praying, every day, every moment. And at the end of the day I would tell God, Thank you for today, but now I need help for tomorrow.”
The Schmidt family was finally able to welcome baby Stevie home in October 2021. Now, she is a healthy, smiley baby–still sassy and full of spunk—and absolutely adored by her older brother.
Kaitlin called Johnnathan, who had kept in touch with the family, to express their gratitude and update him on Stevie’s progress. The caregivers at Avista had not known Stevie’s outcome after she was transferred out of the hospital, and Johnnathan was able to share the news of her homecoming, bringing good news to the labor and delivery team at an especially needed time as the hospital navigated yet another surge of the ongoing pandemic. The team again paused with Johnnathan to pray, this time sending up a prayer of thanks for God’s healing and the miracle they had witnessed in baby Stevie.
Johnnathan has kept in touch with the Schmidt family and recently sent baby Stevie a welcome-home gift: her very first Bible.
“Stevie’s journey really demonstrates the power of prayer, the power of positive thinking, and of maintaining faith that God is present,” Johnnathan reflected. “As a chaplain, it is my great honor to help sustain our patients’ connection with God’s presence in their times of greatest need, and seeing an outcome like Stevie’s, against all odds, is truly incredible.”
