Child's Birth Year
2015

State/Province/Territory
Virginia

NICU Hospital for my journey
Virginia Baptist Lynchburg

My NICU Graduate's Journey
Madelynn was born at 30 weeks without any parents as her mom left right after giving birth and didn't know who the father was. My wife and I got the call to be her foster parents when she was 11 days old and became ours when she was 18 months old. She was in the NICU for an additional week after she came into our care as she didn't initially have the sucking instinct to take a bottle. However; the right after we first saw her, she started taking a bottle.

What makes you proud of you NICU graduate?
She is such a strong and independent young woman and very intelligent. She is still a fighter to this day as she deals with the struggles of level 1 autism and alpha-gal (a tick-bourne allergy) among other allergies.

Weight at Birth (lbs. or Grams)
4lbs 1oz

Weeks Gestation
30 weeks

Time spent in the NICU (Specify Number of Days, Months, or Years)
20 days