Five-month-old Marlowe Kuhn of Miami smiles as she is surrounded by cards sent from students St. Catherine School on Kauai. (Photos courtesy of Meghan Khun)
“To the students at St. Catherine School … you were part of a miracle.”
A frame bearing this message of gratitude was sent recently to the small Kauai Catholic school by Meghan and Jared Kuhn. The Florida couple has never visited the Kapaa grade school, but they believe the schoolchildren’s prayers over the last several months helped them overcome one of the toughest challenges of their lives.
Meghan Kuhn spoke to the Hawaii Catholic Herald by phone from Miami Oct. 3. She shared the story of her baby daughter Marlowe, whose serious illness at birth and amazing recovery now connect her family to St. Catherine across the Pacific.
Kuhn said she carried Marlowe, her first child, in what she describes as a healthy and “perfect pregnancy.” Late in her term, Kuhn went to the doctor for what was supposed to be a simple checkup on the baby. She arrived without feeling any symptoms of illness, but doctors soon discovered an E. Coli infection in her womb.
The bacteria had affected the amniotic fluid surrounding Marlowe, as well as the placenta. Doctors told Kuhn that E. Coli had the potential to be fatal for both mother and baby.
They operated on Kuhn and delivered Marlowe by C-section April 15. Kuhn said she woke up in the recovery room convulsing, her blood pressure and heart rate dangerously high. Marlowe was immediately taken to the neonatal intensive care unit.
“We thought we were going to have this perfect birth,” Kuhn said. “Nobody knew what was happening.”
Touch and go
As Kuhn recovered, Marlowe’s condition worsened. Doctors said the baby had passed her first stool in the womb, which likely caused the E. Coli infection. Some of it had gotten into Marlowe’s lungs, preventing adequate production of oxygen.
“Her body was in a state of shutdown,” Kuhn said. “She was on a series of ventilators while this infection was just blowing through her body.”
Doctors said Marlowe had a 50 percent chance of surviving that first night. The baby lived, but was airlifted on her third day to a nearby children’s hospital. There, she was heavily sedated and placed in a medically induced state of paralysis to conserve her oxygen.
“It was touch-and-go for weeks,” Kuhn said.
Just as the family prepared themselves for the worst, Marlowe began showing signs of life. She opened her eyes and moved her hands. Ventilator tubes were eventually removed as she started breathing on her own.
“Everything just sort of came together,” Kuhn said. “It was very quick.”
An MRI showed Marlowe’s brain activity was normal. That shocked the doctors, who told the Kuhns that even if Marlowe lived, her ability to function would be severely limited.
“They were dumbfounded,” Kuhn said. “They didn’t expect this case to go this way.”
In two months, the Kuhns brought the healthy baby home.
Throughout the ordeal, the Kuhns posted updates of Marlowe’s condition on Facebook. The students at St. Catherine School were among the website’s followers.
The prayers of children
Pat Doherty, a seventh grade teacher and religion director at St. Catherine, heard of the Kuhns through her daughter Tara in Chicago. Tara and Meghan have never met, but they share a mutual friend.
Doherty said the students’ “hearts went out to Meghan.” She encouraged them to say their own personal prayers for the Kuhn family. She also prayed for the intercession of Blessed John Paul II on their behalf.
“Christ loved children,” Doherty said. Their prayers “are more powerful than anything.”
Eighth grader Zoe McGinnis especially felt a connection to the Kuhns. McGinnis’ family had been through a similar scare with her younger sister who had a heart defect. McGinnis prayed that just as her sister fully recovered, so too would baby Marlowe.
“It was a miracle,” McGinnis said. “There was so much love going into this whole thing. The entire school was praying for her.”
The staff and students at St. Catherine sent handmade cards and a stuffed animal to Miami. Kuhn said she and her husband — who coincidentally honeymooned on Kauai — were overwhelmed by their unexpected support.
The Kuhns attend the non-denominational Christ Fellowship Church. Meghan was raised Episcopalian, but her father is Catholic and her mother is a recent Catholic convert. Faith is an important part of the Kuhns’ family life, and the trial of baby Marlowe was an unforgettable example for them of God’s love.
“God taught us so many things,” Meghan Kuhn said. “He uses us to love one another. We are all channels for him.”
Kuhn hopes the Kauai youth also saw their situation as a valuable “teaching moment.” St. Catherine School French teacher Andrea Corbo said the students certainly learned how prayer can have a tangible impact even on people who are far away.
“You can still care about (others) even if they’re not close to you,” Corbo said.
