The last week of pregnancy can be a real struggle for any woman. However, when your husband goes into cardiac arrest, it becomes a completely different kind of struggle.
Ashley Goette from Minneapolis found this out when her husband, Andrew, went into cardiac arrest on October 16 — one day before the planned induction of their baby boy. As a result of this, she had to perform CPR on him with the assistance of medical staff who were on the phone while she was instructed on how to save her husband’s life.
“The dispatcher walked me through CPR because I am not trained,” Goette said, according to CBS Minnesota . “They wanted me to get him down to a hard surface and I explained to them that I couldn’t because I am 39 weeks pregnant.”
Even with the associated struggle of being so pregnant, Ashley managed to perform the life-saving CPR on her husband while she waited for paramedics to arrive. Finally, when help came, it was discovered that Andrew was in cardiac arrest and there were concerns he had been without oxygen for a dangerous period of time according to the couple’s GoFundMe story. Once paramedics managed to restart his heart, Andrew was rushed to United Hospital in St. Paul, Minneapolis, via ambulance.
It was established by doctors that Andrew had suffered from a cardiac arrest and had an irregular heart rhythm. As a result of this, Andrew was sedated and his body temperature was lowered in the hope his brain would recover. It was then a waiting game to find out whether he had suffered any form of brain injury as a result of the earlier lack of oxygen.
Medical staff on hand at the ICU were terrified of the potential outcome.
“I went home that first night, thinking, ‘This can’t happen, this guy has got to hold his baby,’” ICU nurse Libby Remmers said.
However, thanks in part to Ashley’s intervention and the helpful staff that instructed her via phone, Andrew woke up and had not suffered any significant form of brain injury.
Then, 36 hours after Andrew woke up, Ashley was induced and safely delivered their child.
In the span of 4 days, Ashley Goette gave birth to her first child and helped save her husband’s life https://t.co/3x107o5hHJ
— NYT National News (@NYTNational) October 24, 2018
However, that wasn’t without its own complications. While the pair had their hearts set on a natural birth, Ashley ended up requiring a cesarean. Andrew was able to witness the birth after doctors decided to delay his heart surgery in order for him to tune in via FaceTime.
“I was just so excited to be able to see him be born,” Andrew said. “We started out trying a natural birth.”
Lennon Andrew Goette was born on Friday, October 19, three days after his father nearly died. Ashley and Andrew now have a GoFundMe page in order to help with the substantial costs involved with their hospital stay.
