A Story to Read

 

“Miracle Baby Goes Home”

 

By Dave Andrusko

Mark and Rene Pacyna with Meghan Hope

A NRL News Today reader forwarded me a story today that ran last month. But good news really is timeless—especially when the subject is a “miracle baby” going home to be with her family.
When Meghan Hope Pacyna left Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Illinois, December 11, she was not your ordinary newborn. Meghan was 5 months old and weighed 7-pounds.
Her mom, René, calls Meghan a “miracle baby,” and it’s easy to understand why. She was actually born July 9–“17 weeks premature, weighing a mere 15 ounces and measuring only 8 inches long,” wrote Jessica Cilella for the Daily Herald. “Her father’s wedding ring slipped easily over her arm.”

Meghan Hope Pacyna

“We all thought that she had a few minutes, to a few hours, to a few days. And then she was a strong baby and she just made it,” said neonatologist Dr. Vibhaben Thaker. “That was a miracle that she made it.”
Each day, Mrs. Pacyna would drive to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital from her home in Schaumburg, Illinois, which is 30 minutes north of Downers Grove. She would stay with Meghan as she fought through many complications, “including weak lungs, an eye disorder and a nearly fatal blood clot in her abdomen.”
“They were very realistic, but they were also optimistic,” Dr. Thaker said. “They knew things could go wrong, but they also had so much bravery and so much family support and so much faith in everything, in God. I said, ‘If a miracle doesn’t happen to this family, what other family will it happen to?’”
René Pacyna told Cilella that one reason she believes Meghan is alive is the power of prayer.
“She’s been on prayer lists at many, many churches,” she said. “Everyone has been praying for this baby and praying for us as a family just to get through this.”
When the family took Meghan home, they were effusive in their praise for the hospital’s neonatal staff.
“God speaks through these people right here, truly,” René said, motioning to the smiling doctors and nurses ready to send Meghan home without any monitors and in overall good health. “When I just, emotionally, felt like I couldn’t stand one more second, they would somehow pick me up and say, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’”
While the couple understood there are challenges ahead, they remain very optimistic. “We’re going to get a big portion of our life back,” Mark Pacyna told Cilella. “It’s going to continue to be a big challenge, so I don’t want to say the burden’s been lifted, but it’s fantastic being at this point.”

Source: NRLC News