Robert

Child's Birth Year
2021

State/Province/Territory
Texas

NICU Hospital for my journey
Methodist Children’s

My NICU Graduate's Journey
Four and a half years ago, we were told our son had less than a 30% chance of surviving. Our world stopped the day we learned just how sick Robert truly was. What was supposed to be excitement and dreams for the future quickly turned into fear, statistics, ventilators, surgeries, and endless uncertainty.
Robert entered this world already fighting harder than most people ever will. He battled severe lung disease from his Congenital diaphragmatic hernia, and during his NICU stay he suffered a severe pulmonary hemorrhage that nearly took him from us. There were moments where the room filled with alarms and staff, moments where I truly did not know if I would get to bring my baby home alive.
He spent 113 days in the NICU. One hundred and thirteen days of machines breathing for him, tubes and lines covering his tiny body, watching numbers instead of sleeping peacefully as a new parent should. We celebrated things most people never think twice about — stable oxygen levels, tiny weight gains, tolerating feeds, surviving another day.
When Robert finally came home, it was not the “normal” homecoming people imagine. He came home dependent on CPAP/vent support and a feeding tube. The hospital came home with us. The fear came home with us too.
But so did a little boy who refused to quit. A little boy who continues to prove every single statistic wrong. Robert’s journey has never been easy, but he is here. He is fighting. And every single day with him is a miracle I will never take for

What makes you proud of your NICU graduate?
He has survived odds no one thought possible. Despite the daily challenges he faces with his health even today he is the happiest and sweetest little boy. He lights up a room just by being in it.

Weight at Birth (lbs. or Grams)
5 lbs 5 ozs

Weeks Gestation
35 weeks

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