Joliet baby born at 1 pound goes home after 6-months stay at Silver Cross NICU

Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox gave its youngest patient to receive care from its neonatal intensive care unit a grand sendoff Monday.

Nyla Brooke Haywood, who was born Nov. 17, 2023, at 22 weeks and 3 days, weighing 1.1 pounds and measuring 11 inches long, left Silver Cross the day after Mother’s Day. She was surrounded by “Nyla’s Nation,” the affectionate name for the team that cared for her, said Peggy Farrell, director of the NICU and lactation services.

“I always knew when I had a daughter she would be a big deal,” said Nyla’s mother, NaKeya Moffett, 33, of Joliet. “But I didn’t think she would be this much of a big deal.”

Cory Haywood, 33, of Joliet, Moffett’s husband and Nyla’s father, said he’s “just super excited and happy.”

“She’s our little miracle,” Haywood said.

“Nyla’s survival is really a testament of not only medical advances and care but, really, the devotion of the staff. The whole team provided what we call a ‘safe, protected environment’ for the baby.”

—   Peggy Farrell, director of the NICU and lactation services at Silver Cross Hospital

After spending six months at the Amy, Matthew and Jay Vana Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Nyla went home with her first-time parents at 21 inches long and weighing 9.8 pounds. Farrell said Nyla’s due date was April 19 and Nyla acts like a developmentally appropriate 3-week-old newborn.

“She is putting her fingers in her mouth, sucking her thumb, and she actually smiles at us,” Farrell said. “She even holds her head up.”

Dr. Mario Sanchez, a neonatal-perinatal specialist at Silver Cross, said less than a third of babies born at 22 weeks survive. The third that do survive still often face severe disabilities, Sanchez said.

“Unfortunately, most don’t have outcomes as good as Nyla’s,” Sanchez said.

Moffett said she had a normal pregnancy until her feet and ankles started swelling 20 weeks in the pregnancy. The swelling persisted for a few weeks, so on Nov. 14, Moffat checked her blood pressure before work.

“It was really high,” Moffett said. “I don’t remember the top number. But the bottom was 116.”

She found herself hospitalized at Silver Cross and diagnosed with preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia and premature birth

Preeclampsia is a multisystem, pregnancy-specific disorder of unknown cause, according to the Johns Hopkins website. Left untreated, preeclampsia may lead to eclampsia, which can cause seizures and even the death of mother and baby. The only cure is delivery of the baby, but symptoms may still persist for several weeks.

Moffett said she found strength in her faith “but my body was not onboard.” Moffett’s blood pressure remained high and doctors scheduled her for a Cesarean section Nov. 18, she said.

Farrell said a multi-specialty team that included maternal-fetal medicine specialists, anesthesiologists, neonatologists, pulmonologists and pharmacists met early afternoon Nov. 17 to plan Nyla’s care.

After “Nyla’s Nation” went home for the night, Moffett’s blood pressure escalated, necessitating immediate delivery, and the team returned, Farrell said. At least 15 people were in the delivery room.

“Nyla’s survival is really a testament of not only medical advances and care but, really, the devotion of the staff,” Farrell said. “The whole team provided what we call a ‘safe, protected environment’ for the baby. The technology has not changed a lot in the last couple of years. It’s the way we deliver these babies, making sure the room is warm, making sure it’s quiet.”

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Sanchez said Nyla was successfully resuscitated as the breathing tube went in smoothly on the first attempt and her heart rate and breathing remained stable, all good initial signs.

Dr. Corryn Greenwood, medical director of Silver Cross’ NICU, said more and more babies this young can survive “if you give them a chance to survive.” Nevertheless, Greenwood said she’s “clear and frank” with families about the quality of life challenges their babies are facing.

Challenges of prematurity

Babies born this early are often placed into “a little polyurethane raincoat” after birth to prevent water loss and to retain heat because their skin is so translucent and fragile, Greenwood said.

Their lungs have insufficient lung tissue to “adequately sustain life” without a special type of high frequency ventilator, Greenwood said. These babies may require synthetic surfactant to keep air sacs in the lungs from collapsing, she said.

They don’t eat well by mouth and need a central venous line to deliver nutrition and medicine, she said. Their blood vessels are extremely fragile, making them high risk for bleeding in the brain, which Nyla did not have, Greenwood had.

Nyla also did not have patent ductus arteriosus, a persistent opening between pulmonary artery and the aorta, Greenwood said, and she also had zero blood stream infections, a leading cause of death in premature babies.

Sanchez said Nyla did have surgery to correct retinopathy of prematurity at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago to correct growth of abnormal blood vessels, a cause of blindness. Nyla also had seven red blood cell transfusions during her stay at Silver Cross, Greenwood said.

Miracle baby

Greenwood said Nyla’s good outcome is a “testament to the amazing care she received.” The particular teamwork and communication among the multidisciplinary specialists in the Silver Cross NICU is a more of an academic model, Greenwood said.

“Silver Cross is unique in that it’s not an academic center with residents and fellow trainees,” Greenwood said. “You don’t see that in a community NICU.”

Dr. Brett Galley, a neonatologist at Silver Cross, said Nyla is doing “better than we predicted” from a health and developmental standpoint. Nyla will need regular checkups with specialists at Silver Cross to ensure she continues to develop well, he said.

Nyla does have bronchopulmonary dysplasia, which puts her at higher risk for complications from respiratory viruses during her first couple of years, and she went home on a minute amount of supplementary oxygen, Galley said.

She also has a nasogastric tube for extra nutrients. But Nyla takes half of her food – including breast milk – by mouth, Galley said. Both the oxygen and feeding tube will likely be discontinued in a month, Galley said.

Galley credited Nyla’s parents with much of Nyla’s success.

“They were ever-present at her bedside, and that’s difficult to accomplish with her almost six-month stay with us,” Galley said.

Coming full circle, Sanchez discharged Nyla from the hospital, pleased at her outcome. Moffett said Nyla’s story is “one that is honestly needed during this time.”

“For people who have trouble believing in miracles,” Moffett said, “Nyla is certainly one.”