Daniela Viviana Rodriguez

Daniela Viviana Rodriguez 23 days
Passing 10/27/23 3:59 pm University of Utah Hospital NICU, SLC, UT
Birth 10/04/23 12:44 am University of Utah Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah
Andrew Angel Rodriguez Sr. Danielle Vivian Rodriguez
Married 1998 Little White Chapel, Las Vegas, NV and 2016 Abundant Living Family Church, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Daniela was born at 42 weeks and one day gestation at the University of Utah Hospital naturally after finding out that day that there were severe health complications after having a wonderful pregnancy. We did not find out we had a girl until after walking into the NICU two hours after she was born because she was whisked away through the NICU window quickly after birth. The nurses announced our baby girl to us as we walked in to meet our 6lb, 3.8-ounce, and 19.8-inch snow-white baby girl. We were quiet and shocked as the news was bittersweet the first time, we had been in a NICU and laying our eyes upon our second daughter, whom I had waited for over two decades, having many boys before her. Her hair looked long and curly with vernix pressed against her head. She was like Sleeping Beauty with a respirator and feeding tube. She looked perfect and beautiful to me as I scanned her, looking for any sign that she was not a healthy baby. I saw my nose, Dad's feet, high-arched eyebrows, and a cupid's bow. During the first week, she underwent many scans, x-rays, and blood tests.
She was taken off the ventilator as she was starting to take all of her breaths and needed less oxygen support, and they were trying to increase feeds, waiting for her pleural effusion to heal. At one week old, she was diagnosed with Trisomy 18. Not knowing what this meant, we had to Google it while on the phone with Dad, and we were devastated for our beautiful baby girl by what the diagnosis read. Daniela had her mom every day to hold her, affirm her, pray over her, and read healing scriptures. Daniela progressed a little daily and slowly opened her eyes and looked around, cried, fussed, and listened to the music and light show aquarium toy. Daniela would look at me, and she knew I was mama and when I would get to her room, she would fuss when she heard me because I always had to pump milk before our skin-to-skin time. She would melt on my chest and fall into a deep sleep after rooting, and she used a pacifier while being fed through her tube when I was holding her.
We would stay reclined in the hospital chair for hours to get encouragement to make it through another day. Daniela got a fever that alerted the staff of a staph infection from her PICC line, and she did not let it stop her feeding and breathing progress, to the staff's surprise. Everyone commented on how cute and sweet she was while being a tiny fighter. During all of the invasive procedures, she handled them all gracefully without a complaint or peep. All mentioned her strong spirit to her proud mama. She had amazingly supportive nurses and doctors looking after her, and they were surprised by her progress and fight compared to others before her.
On Friday, October 27th, a nurse explained that she was about to wean off her respiratory machine and was due to get whole breast milk feeds the next day after having non-fat donor milk and formula due to the pleural effusion. She was doing so well despite her diagnosis. The nurse gave her a tiny syringe of my breastmilk to show me that she could suck, swallow, and breathe as she was never given the opportunity before. I sent messages to her father and siblings; we were all excited and hopeful for her progress. She proved to be strong and determined to overcome. The nurse came into the room to talk to me about her surprising progress during our skin-to-skin time, and she was getting fussy as I was probably irritating her during our quality time. She kept fussing and making her breathing alarms beep, and they started going down further, and I noticed her turning pale like when she was first born.
Looking back, she must have passed out on my chest; the nurse took her to give her more breaths and breathing support. The nurse later said she took her last few breaths when she first put her back in bed to work on her. I just kept my hands on her wherever I could squeeze in between the staff to encourage her and pray over her as the room and hallway filled with people trying to save her life. Her heart slowly stopped, and her sweet, beautiful spirit ascended to heaven. Daniela touched the lives of the nurses and doctors and left a lasting impression before her journey on earth ended. Daniela's graceful, short but sweet life told the story of a baby that received so much love and care and got to demonstrate her gentle warrior spirit. Daniela proved her strength and gave her family love that will be cherished and last a lifetime. #DanielaVivianastrong
Survived by my mom and dad, siblings Jonathan 29 and niece Leyna 11 months, Vanessa 28, Andrew Jr. 24, Angel 24, Atticus 17, Azariah 8, and Asael 4.
A Celebration of Life will be held November 4, 2023, at 2pm.
South Mountain Community Church Lehi Campus
520 South 850 East Suite B1
Lehi, UT 84043
For those who would like to join the service via Zoom can click on "Watch Services" or follow the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82531301720
Those wishing to view a video of Daniela's life can click on the following link: https://youtu.be/v_PeLDSLuto?si=NWBUaBrb5Wxeq1Gg