Editor's Note: This story has been updated to better reflect the timeline of events and correct the song's title.

SANDPOINT — Whitney Barnett was getting ready for work one morning while listening to ‘Gonna Be Alright’ by Christian music artist Ryan Ellis when her 2-year-old, Emerson Barnett, uttered a prophetic statement. 

“She came up to me and said ‘Mom, baby Jesus is gonna be alright,’” Whitney Barnett recalled. 

While Emerson was using her brother Cooper’s nickname, which she dubbed him with, she was correct in that he was going to be alright. It was far from the only positive message that the toddler would give to her mother across the family’s multi-year journey through Cooper’s battle with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia and fetal hydrops. 

Barnett, an ultrasound technician by day, said she first noticed something was wrong with Cooper at 18 weeks when she discovered fluid in his chest during a self-conducted ultrasound. Four weeks later, he was diagnosed with CDH, a rare and life-threatening condition where a child’s diaphragm does not fully form, which in Cooper’s case had moved his liver and intestines near his lungs. 

Determined to fight for Cooper’s life, the Barnett family left Sandpoint and headed to Spokane so Barnett could be closer to obstetrician care. It’s at 25 weeks that she was put in touch with Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Dr. Rebecca Stark.  

“They're both incredibly strong by nature. And when I met them, it felt like meeting an immediate set of partners who were coming to us saying, ‘We're all in for Cooper,’” Stark said. “They were just very gracious, and always showed up with an attitude of, how can we help our baby survive?” 

Stark, part of Seattle Children’s CDH team, said fetal hydrops carries upwards of a 90% risk of intrauterine death so she knew they had to act fast. Barnett had faced the possibility of losing Cooper numerous times before this and remained committed to doing everything they could to save his life. 

Stark said that having the support of the family is key for these procedures and that all their conversations surrounded how to best keep Cooper alive. The team successfully used a tube to remove the fluid from Cooper's chest, giving him another chance against the odds.

“Impressively, that fluid resolved,” Stark said. "There are maybe one or two cases reported in the literature over the last 30 years that have this diagnosis with shunting, and so it was kind of a long shot, but what we expected to happen ended up happening, which was great for them.” 

With the fluid gone, Cooper’s CDH had gone from very severe to moderately severe and allowed him to begin building lung capacity. However, the more time passed, the more complications Barnett was experiencing which ultimately led to a premature birth at 31 weeks. 

Stark said that premature babies with CDH are far different from full-term babies because their lungs are even less developed, meaning the hospital can’t offer much support. She described Cooper’s first 24 hours as “dire and rough” as the crew did all they could to keep him stable. 

Luckily, he was able to survive for two weeks, when doctors said he was big enough for surgery to repair his CDH. Once again, the team came through for Barnett and her family, completing a successful surgery and saving Cooper’s life. 

“They're just like this group of angels that just are fighting for our baby and all the babies there,” Barnett said. "We became friends with the nurses. One of them knitted him a hat and a blanket. I'm still friends with them on social media, and we text, and they see him when we're over there. So, they're just like our little family over there now.” 

One year later, Cooper is fresh off his first birthday party and meeting his developmental milestones, Barnett said. Now back in Sandpoint, Barnett said it’s been difficult to find a sense of normalcy after their whirlwind journey, but that she’s grateful for the care and support from the community. 

“We didn't bring a single thing for him over to Seattle, because we had no idea if we'd be taking a baby home,” Barnett said. “It just gives you chills as you're sitting there holding your healthy baby, that you're like, man, we were really close to not having him.” 

Barnett said she prides herself as a woman of faith and relied heavily on Christian music and prayer to keep her mind positive. She said she also leaned on her husband, Nathan Barnett, to take care of Emerson and continue working during her pregnancy. 

Nathan Barnett works as a paramedic with the Spokane County Fire District 8, which Barnett said was incredibly accommodating and helped them financially during the trying times. For Nathan’s part he said he tried to serve as Barnett’s rock and doing everything he could to support her. 

Barnett said Stark was a significant calming force in her life during that time and wanted to shine a spotlight on the care of Seattle Children’s Hospital because of how they cared for Cooper. 

“Watching their protocols, like, everything was so dialed in that you just never had a moment that you didn't have confidence in them,” Barnett said. "Even they're like, he's a bit of a miracle, because he had the cards stacked against him with everything and now, he's healthy and happy.” 

    Cooper Barnett leans on a boxing ring rope on his first birthday next to a picture of him at Seattle Children's Hospital.
  

    Nurses from Seattle Children's Hospital hold Cooper and Emerson Barnett.