One Pound, One Ounce: A Big NICU Celebration

One Pound, One Ounce: A Big NICU Celebration

September is Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Awareness Month. We are sharing a huge celebration about a tiny baby who was surrounded by great heroes for her first 128 days.

Baby Danielle Started off Small

Danielle was born on Jan. 5, 2022, at 25 weeks and six days gestation. She was 15 weeks early. She weighed one pound and one ounce; she was only 11.25 inches long.

“We love to tell people that Trinity Health Grand Rapids NICU is amazing and can take babies of any size and gestation as long as there is no surgical need,” said Laura and Jacob VanderWall, Danielle’s loving parents.

Danielle stayed at the Trinity Health Grand Rapids NICU for 121 days and was transferred to a nearby hospital for a gastrostomy tube (feeding tube) placement surgery. She stayed at the other hospital for seven days making her NICU journey 128 days long.

“Dani’s care team went out of their way to make sure the transfer went as smoothly as possible,” said Danielle’s parents.

How is Dani Now?

Dani is now 19 months old and happily thriving – living a big life!

“We owe all of her success to the amazing labor and delivery team at Trinity Health Grand Rapids, who kept her in the womb for two and a half weeks and got her everything she needed before coming out,” said Danielle’s parents. “We are thankful for the amazing NICU team at Trinity Health who saved her life many times, and then helped her thrive. Without them and the power and grace of our great God, our little girl would not be here today.

“We are so thankful for the friendships we formed with the NICU nurses. They treated us like family and loved on our girl when we couldn't be there. They still treat her with so much love when we get to see them.”

How Was Your NICU Experience?

Laura and Jacob couldn’t have asked for a much better experience at Trinity Health Grand Rapids, saying the NICU has the “best staff.”

“The doctors, neonatal nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse manager, nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, social workers, and everyone else who helps the NICU run so smoothly are truly the best of the best,” they said.

“God knew we needed each and every one of them in our lives. We are so thankful they were blessed with the talent to keep the tiniest humans alive, even when it looks like death is near. May God continue to bless the phenomenal work they do.”

Families can depend on Trinity Health Michigan’s Neonatal Intensive Care Units – find one near you by clicking here.