Baby Miracle
BY RENEE WARREN LYNAH; PHOTOS BY KATIE DESANTIS
When Kiesha Small went into labor in May, she was just 24 weeks pregnant. “I thought I was losing my baby,” she says, recalling the labor experience. By the time Kiesha arrived at Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center, she was not just in labor but about to deliver. That meant that she wasn’t able to receive the steroid injections and labor slowing medications that most mothers who go into preterm labor are given. Sometimes those medications are able to stop labor altogether. When labor can’t be stopped, a delay of even 24 or 48 hours, coupled with steroids, can greatly improve a baby’s chances of survival. Pre-term babies whose mothers receive steroid injections during labor have a 40 percent greater chance of survival and half the risk of lung disease. Not only was Kiesha’s labor too advanced to be stopped by medications, but her unborn baby had barely reached the age of viability. Viability is the term used by the medical community referring to the time when it is possible for a baby to survive outside of the mother’s womb. “Right from the get-go, the odds were stacked against her,” says Neonatologist Antonio Pena, Baby Miracle’s receiving physician. But like many preemies, Miracle Renee Mary Lee was born fighting and hasn’t stopped. Baby Miracle measured just 12.5” at birth and weighed just 1lb. 13oz. Her mother, Kiesha, says that Miracle experienced difficulties with her lungs, had a heart defect called PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus) and ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity), an eye condition that affects some premature babies. About 50 percent of micro preemies will have PDA, an opening in between the two primary blood vessels leading away from the heart. This gap may close in time or it may require intervention down the road. Also common among preterm babies is ROP, an eye condition that in some cases can lead to blindness. Kiesha says that Miracle is being watched and monitored closely and her eyes are improving. Miracle has been on oxygen since birth, although the dosage is decreasing steadily.
Due to her prematurity, Miracle never learned to suck and swallow in utero. Despite the learning curve, she has recently mastered bottle feeding, a huge milestone. Recently, after four months in the Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Miracle was released into the care of her parents. Caring for a preemie at home is no small task and parents, Kiesha and Jeremy, were thoroughly trained by NICU staff to operate the equipment that little Miracle would need to thrive safely at home. Miracle’s mother, Kiesha, has raved about the staff and NICU nurses at GCRMC. She says with profound gratitude, “We are forever grateful for them. They are the best team of nurses and doctors. They took care of Miracle like she was theirs. They played the biggest role in her life, giving her the necessary care to get her where God wanted her.” Kiesha says that Miracle’s journey has been a roller coaster ride of emotions, but she continues to surprise and inspire with her fighting spirit. Kiesha says of her firstborn, “We are just so blessed and the name Miracle fits her. She has come so far and beaten all the odds. She is definitely a fighter, proving that miracles do happen.”
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]According to Healthy Start, the nationwide organization in support of healthy mothers and babies, more than 30,000 infants were born prematurely in the State of Florida in 2013. Local Healthy Start Director, Sharon Owens, says that the Healthy Start program works with the community to ensure that all pregnant women have the resources they need to have happy and healthy pregnancies that result in healthy babies. Their services are not based on income, which means that they are available to all mothers and newborns in the community. The organization coordinates childbirth education, breastfeeding support, and car seat safety, while also providing grief support for parents who have lost babies, either before birth or after.
Healthy Start’s next event, the “World’s Greatest Baby Shower” will be held in Spring 2015 and is open to all families in the community who are expecting or who have welcomed a baby in the previous six months. The 2015 annual shower will be held Thursday, April 9 from 4:00-7:00 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church on 4th Street in Panama City. There will be games, refreshments, and lots of prizes for new moms and dads.
If you or someone you know needs the support or resources of Healthy Start, call (850) 872-4130.[/box]