A father's gratitude
When Kellen Lively, a software engineer at HCA Healthcare, and his wife, Cheyenne, prepared to welcome their first child, everything seemed to be going smoothly. Cheyenne had experienced a normal pregnancy, and the couple was eagerly anticipating the arrival of their baby boy, Kellen Jr., affectionately known as “KJ.”
But just a week before her due date, a routine check-up revealed that Cheyenne’s blood pressure had risen. Over the weekend, they monitored it closely. By Monday, it had spiked significantly, prompting an early admission to the labor and delivery unit at TriStar Summit Medical Center. Labor medications were started, but when they didn’t progress things far enough, the team used a labor balloon to help move things along.
At 3:00am, Cheyenne’s water broke. Excited, the couple called in their nurse, thinking they were finally nearing the moment they’d meet their son. But in an instant, everything changed. KJ’s heart rate plummeted. The diagnosis: a placental abruption, a serious and sudden complication.
That’s when Dr. Chern entered the room.
“He had his Grey’s Anatomy moment,” Kellen recalled. “He was calmly but urgently gathering information from every nurse, asking questions, making decisions. You could tell he was in complete control.”
Once Dr. Chern had what he needed, he made the call: emergency C-section.
What followed was a scene Kellen will never forget. “It was like watching an F1 pit crew,” he said. “Everyone moved with intensity and intention, but no one panicked. It was incredible.”
At 3:27am, just 27 minutes after Cheyenne’s water broke, KJ was born with a healthy heart rate. Thanks to the swift, expert care of Dr. Chern and the TriStar Summit team, both Cheyenne and KJ were safe and healthy.
Doctors later confirmed that Cheyenne had experienced what they described as “compassionate, connected care,” a core value of HCA Healthcare that Kellen had often heard about at work, but now truly understood. “You need someone who cares like family,” Kellen said. “And that’s exactly what we had.”
Reflecting on the experience, Kellen describes his new life with Cheyenne and KJ as “like being rich.” He credits the TriStar Summit labor and delivery nurses and doctors with giving him that life. “They gave us peace during one of the most difficult times. We’ll never forget that.”
Special thanks to Dr. Andrew Chern, Tangela Gass, Karishma Patel, Asia Hughes, Carla Cohen, Mary Coomer, Faith Cornelison, Hailey Swindoll, Casandra Marquez-Smith, Molly Marra, Heidi Crosslin, John Benben, Mary Kaczmarkski, Carrie Starks, Richard Lane and to the many more incredible members of the TriStar Summit Labor and Delivery Team who are not listed here but whose care the Lively’s will always remember.