Otto

Child's Birth Year
2025

State/Province/Territory
Texas

NICU Hospital for my journey
St. David's Medical Center

My NICU Graduate's Journey
Otto’s journey began with a terrifying and uncertain start to life. In the days leading up to his birth, I experienced leaking fluid and changes in his movement that deeply worried me. After going into labor and delivery for evaluation, I was ultimately admitted and induced. In the early morning hours of July 18th, everything changed in an instant. Otto was born with the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around his neck and without oxygen. He came out limp and silent, and the room immediately shifted into emergency mode as the team worked to resuscitate him. His APGAR score at one minute of life was only 1, and he went several minutes without adequate oxygen before finally stabilizing enough to be transferred to the NICU.

Soon after birth, Otto was diagnosed with moderate Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) and transferred to a NICU in Austin for hypothermic cooling treatment. Watching my newborn connected to machines, unable to hold or comfort him the way I imagined, was heartbreaking. Every hour felt uncertain.

When his cooling treatment ended, we anxiously waited for his MRI results, preparing ourselves for the unknown. Hearing that his MRI score was 0 — the best result possible — gave us our first real sense of hope that our little boy might truly be okay.

The following weeks in the NICU were filled with highs and lows. There were moments where Otto seemed to move forward, only to face setbacks again. But through every challenge, he kept fighting. Slowly, he grew stronger. He came off oxygen, graduated from his feeding tube, and after about a month in the NICU, we were finally able to bring our sweet boy

What makes you proud of your NICU graduate?
What I am proudest of when I think about Otto is his joy. After everything he went through in his first days of life, he continues to meet the world with smiles. Even now, he has more appointments, follow ups, and monitoring than most babies because of his NICU journey, yet he takes it all with such resilience and happiness. No matter how many doctors he sees or tests he goes through, he keeps smiling.

There is something incredibly powerful about watching a child who fought so hard simply to be here choose joy again and again. Otto fought to be with us, to be with his sister, and to experience this life, and I never take that for granted. He reminds me every day how precious life is and how much beauty can exist even after fear and uncertainty.

Through him, I have learned to celebrate the small moments — a smile, a laugh, a quiet morning together. Otto’s strength and happiness have changed the way I see the world, and being his mom is the greatest privilege

Weight at Birth (lbs. or Grams)
6.13 lbs

Weeks Gestation
39 weeks

Time spent in the NICU (Specify Number of Days, Months, or Years)
1 month