Two hours after the wedding, Nicole and Shane noticed that something was wrong.
Mariana was born on July 1, and a week later her parents got married, overjoyed, with their newborn at the center of the celebration. But when the ceremony ended, the little girl wasn’t eating or waking up. In that time, she stopped breathing and all her organs began to fail. The newlyweds left the party and rushed her to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines. There, they received the diagnosis: viral meningitis caused by the HSV-1 virus, the same one that causes cold sores.
It’s a very common virus, and it almost never gets that serious. Mariana is believed to have contracted it from a kiss, although her mother could never confirm how it happened; both parents tested negative. Pediatrician Tanya Altmann explains that in the first few months, a virus spreads quickly and can be serious in a newborn, which is why the CDC urges people to take extra precautions with babies younger than one month.
Mariana died at 8:41 in the morning, in her father’s arms and beside her mother. “She is no longer suffering and is with the Lord”, Nicole wrote. She added that in her 18 days of life, her daughter had a great impact on the world, with the hope that her story will save other newborns.
