FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — After spending almost 200 days in the neonatal intensive care unit at West Boca Medical Center, the smallest baby to be born at the hospital is finally on her way home.
Cheyenne Tomblin came into this world Sept. 11 weighing 12 ounces, doctors and medical professionals explained at a news conference held at the hospital Tuesday morning.
“She might be small, but she’s bigger than everybody else,” said Hermine Wallace, neonatal intensive care unit staff nurse. “She gets ready to fight, and she’s been fighting since day one.”
Cheyenne beat incredible odds to survive: Her mother, Czierrah Tomblin, gave birth at 24 weeks after developing preeclampsia, a high blood pressure disorder that could lead to fatal complications for the baby and the mother. As well, Cheyenne faced Intrauterine Growth Restriction, a condition in which the baby is unable to grow properly in the womb.
She spent almost six months in the NICU. She was on a ventilator at one point, getting fed intravenously and having a physical therapist help with her.
The nurses said they were all praying and remained hopeful.
And now Baby Cheyenne is on the “launching pad,” nurses said, and should be going home within 24 hours. Now she weighs 9 pounds, 5 ounces.
For mothers facing a similar situation and the stress of wondering if their baby will make it out of the NICU, Tomblin has some words of encouragement.
“As a first-time mom, that was my hang-up, wondering if my baby was going to come home,” she said. “But your baby will come home.”
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