From Our House to
YOURS
APRIL 2024
FAMILY STORY:
The Pellenwessel Family 15 Nights
Staying Close to Addi RMHC was a home away from home In November of 2022, Cali and David
Just hours after birth, she was airlifted
“When my husband
Pellenwessel of Minot were gearing
to Sanford Children’s Hospital in Fargo.
first called me to tell
up for the birth of their first child: a daughter
Packed with a medical team prepared
they would name Addi. Cali had a healthy, full-term pregnancy and the family expected an uncomplicated delivery. Unfortunately, little
to begin cooling therapy
“If it were just a bed, that would have been enough, but it was so
Addi did not tolerate labor and was delivered
much more.” Cali Pellenwessel
by emergency C-Section.
me he had a room for us at the ‘Ronald McDonald House,’
during the flight, there
I pictured a single room in a literal house,
was no room for Addi’s
with a whole bunch of strangers,” Cali said.
dad, David to ride
“While that would have been appreciated
along. He would make
still, the thought was not overly appealing
a worrisome drive
to me as a brand-new mom, healing from
to Fargo, while leaving
a c-section and processing a whole
Cali behind to recover
lot of trauma.”
from her major surgery. Addi was born without a pulse and
On the way to Fargo, David tried to figure
Cali remembers the sweet gift waiting
underwent 12 minutes of CPR before
out where he and his wife would stay while
for them when they checked into RMHC.
being stabilized. Little Addi experienced
Addi underwent treatment. Luckily, a social
a lack of oxygen to her brain during birth,
worker at Sanford mentioned RMHC.
called hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
“When we walked in, the first thing I saw was a teddy bear and a tie blanket with a
or HIE. She would need to undergo cooling
When Cali joined her husband and baby
little note on the bed. I immediately burst
therapy to help her brain heal from the
the next day, she was unsure what
into tears,” Cali said. “This was the first gift
trauma, a procedure not offered at their
to expect from RMHC.
we’d received that made it feel like we
local hospital.
Continued on pg. 2