Dan Quirk

In January 2015, my wife Jen and I were overwhelmed with excitement to learn that we would be expecting our first child with a due date in October. The months rolled by quickly and everything was going smoothly until late June when Jen started experiencing a lot of unexplained pain. The doctor was not able to determine the cause, telling us it could be normal pregnancy discomfort. Everything changed on the morning of July 1st when Jen decided that we needed to go to the hospital. 

Once Jen was admitted, hospital staff took vitals and performed blood work. The results presented us with a scary reality…. as Jen’s doctor put it, she was “very sick” and had developed severe preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. These pregnancy complications are characterized by high blood pressure and damage to other vital organ systems. HELLP syndrome, specifically, is very rare, affecting less than 1% of pregnancies, and is extremely serious. We were told that the only way to “cure” Jen was to deliver the baby. It’s impossible to describe the shock we felt especially as new parents when we heard this news - Jen was only 26 weeks along so we still had 3 months until her expected due date. 

Brady James Quirk was born that evening weighing in at 1 lb. 5 oz. The average newborn baby weighs 7.5 lbs. I was not allowed to be in the operating room during Jen’s C-section, but I had a few seconds with my son before he was whisked off to the NICU. Despite being so small, Brady was kicking his legs and so full of life. Jen was immediately moved to the ICU. This was supposed to be the best day of my life, but that night, I laid awake knowing I had a 1 pound baby in the NICU and a wife in the ICU.

The delivery of the baby started Jen’s recovery and healing, but it took many days for her blood pressure to return to safe levels. Jen was discharged a week after the delivery and would continue to recover at home. I remember thinking our mission was half complete- one home and one more to go.

Brady was transferred to Children’s Hospital on the 4th of July where he would spend the next few months in their NICU. Babies born at 26 weeks have an 85% survival rate, but there are many potential complications that they may face. Complications can include brain bleeds, various types of infections, and a potentially deadly disease of the still maturing intestines, called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). We were extremely fortunate that Brady did not encounter any of these issues, however, his underdeveloped lungs struggled and he was on a ventilator for nearly two months. He also underwent multiple blood transfusions, eye surgeries, and other various types of treatment for premature conditions. The nurses and doctors were absolutely incredible as they helped Brady grow and develop. In October, after 119 long days and nights, Brady came home.

Four years later, Jen was pregnant again and we were back in the hospital. Jen developed severe preeclampsia again, similar to our first pregnancy, however she did not develop HELLP syndrome and she was much further along in her pregnancy when she gave birth to our second son, Benjamin Lawrence, on September 13, 2019. Benjamin was born at 35 weeks weighing 4 lbs. 4 oz. and had a 10 day stay in the NICU before joining his big brother, Brady, at home. 

Going through this experience made us fully aware of the dangers of prematurity and its complications for mothers and babies. Nearly 500,000 babies are born premature every year and two women die of pregnancy related causes every day. In Pennsylvania alone, there are over 13,000 babies born prematurely every year. 

Unfortunately, many families don’t have the same outcomes as my family. March of Dimes works to improve the health of mothers and babies through medical research, education, community programs, government advocacy and support of pregnant women and mothers. We saw the benefits of this medical research firsthand as Brady received surfactant therapy at Children’s Hospital. March of Dimes funded the research on surfactant therapy and nitric oxide, two applications that help underdeveloped lungs of preterm babies to breathe easier. Since the development of these two therapies, two-thirds of the babies who would have died from respiratory distress syndrome now survive their early birth. 

I am excited to volunteer with the March of Dimes and help lead EY Pittsburgh’s fundraising efforts