Meet Zoe, the daughter of Morgan and Chris, and sister to big brother Ezra (age 3). Zoe was born on September 29, 2018. She was diagnosed with MCADD via Iowa’s Newborn Screening Program. Zoe’s parents received news of Zoe’s abnormal screening results on Day 3 of her life, and immediately proceeded with confirmation of the diagnosis through blood and urine testing. Zoe only weighed 6 pounds at birth and her first day of life she was very lethargic and would only nurse for 5 minutes at a time. Multiple nurses assured Morgan that birth is hard on babies and she would wake up more the next day. Approximately 18 hours after Zoe’s birth, a nurse quietly asked Morgan if she could give Zoe a syringe of formula after Morgan nursed next because she was concerned about Zoe’s weight dropping much below 6 pounds. No one had any idea that Zoe had MCADD at that point; the sweet nurse was simply trying to keep Zoe’s weight up. Morgan and Chris syringe fed formula over the next two days until they learned of Zoe’s newborn screening results. Morgan describes Zoe’s nurse as their angel. She says that she now knows that Zoe’s lethargy was due to MCADD and not the stress of being born so small. Morgan truly believes that Zoe’s nurse saved her from a crisis or worse.
Zoe is doing well today with the love and support of her parents and big brother, their fantastic metabolic/genetics team, and support groups! We’re thrilled to welcome Zoe and her family to Minutes Matter – MCADD!