Cece and Tony Nash were wondering if their baby was going to live and “be normal” after being born at 1-pound, 7-ounces.
In another hospital, Linda Boone said the concern led her and her husband to say prayers together for the first time, nightly asking for help to heal their daughter after she also was born at less than two pounds.
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Both of these sets of parents initially dealt with the horrifying worry of whether their child would make it after being born dangerously early.
However, there were happy endings.
The parents got to rejoice in the triumph that not only was their child going to be OK, but turn out to be thriving career and family people as adults.
Below, we further delve into these situations of dealing with an early birth. But before that, we are asking if you have a similar story to share.
Were you or someone close born months so early to where the odds of not living through it weren’t good? Did you or someone you know overcome those odds and are now doing great?
We want to hear those inspirational stories!
If you do have something to share, feel free to submit at the bottom of this story.
Cece and Tony Nash and their daughter, Sydney
Cece Nash already had her mind on getting some food at Burger King.
During a regularly scheduled doctor’s appointment, Cece said a trip to Burger King was already in the works when it was all done on the day of November 5, 2001.
But then those plans were eliminated when the doctor delivered some stunning news.
“I heard the doctors say that I have to have this baby today,” Cece said.
At the time, she was only six months pregnant.
“I didn’t know if she would live,” Cece said.
Sydney was eventually born at 1-pound, 7-ounces, small enough to fit into a hand. She was also small enough to where her father, Tony, said her leg could fit inside his wedding ring.
“The doctors said she’d have mental challenges, health challenges, body development issues, and that her mind might not fully develop, so there could be complications in learning,” Cece said.
Tony Nash said the doctors told them before Sydney’s birth that she wouldn’t cry like a normal baby because her lungs weren’t developed.
“Once she made a noise when she came out of the womb, it boosted my faith that God move on our behalf and he would give us a miracle,” Tony said.
Eventually, everything would turn out fine.
Sydney was in the hospital for 90 days, but grew into a healthy child.
Not only that, but she has thrived, and has achieved that many people born at normal sizes haven’t.
Sydney graduated from high school at age 17, and that was nothing compared to how quickly she got through college. Thanks to being in dual-enrollment program where she got college credits early, she graduated from Wayne State University at the age 19, all while having a prominent role working in the university president’s office.
She was an invaluable intern of our content team at Graham Media Group, and if that weren’t enough, does professional dancing as well. Not bad at all for someone born small enough to be able to fit into a hand.
“I always believed from the time she came out that she would be healthy,” Tony said.
Linda Boone and her daughter, Amy
At just six months pregnant, Linda Boone felt her water break.
It was late October in 1978, and her baby wasn’t due until February, but nature called and Boone rushed to the hospital for what had to be an early delivery.
“They had to use forceps to pull her out of me,” she said.
On Oct. 26, 1978, she gave birth to her daughter Amy, who was only 1-pound, 8-ounces at the time.
Amy was in the hospital for three months recovering, and it was torture for Larry and Linda each night worrying about the health of their third child.
At that point, they committed their lives to God and prayed for her health nightly.
“That’s what we would say every night before we went to bed, Lord please heal our daughter,” Boone said. “It was the first time we developed a prayer life.”
During the recovery time, Amy ended up doing even better than the doctors thought, which led to another neat development.
Because Amy was doing so good, doctors asked Boone if they could bank her breast milk so other infants in need could use it. She agreed and saw immediately its effects.
“She was changing people’s lives the minute she was born,” Boone said. “She was saving other lives.”
Amy came home after three months at 4-pounds, 9-ounces, and has gone on to a fruitful life.
She is a successful real estate agent after being in banking for more than 20 years, the mother of three and the wife to the author of this story. She’s the definition of the better half for putting up with me through 10 years of marriage.
But just like with the Nashes, our family is proof that anxieties and fears of an early birth can turn into stories of victory and impact to the world.
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