Haley's Story - Preemie Advocacy Network

By Colleen Pollick

Even though I was 36 weeks along, we knew she was going to be small. Our doctors estimated she would be around 4 lbs., but when her heart rate kept dropping to dangerously low levels after an attempted induction, Haley was born via emergency c-section weighing only 3 lbs. 4 oz. and we were all shocked.

To be that far along but still so very small was beyond explanation. Although overall healthy, all things considered, we got to see her for a couple of minutes and she was sent oﬀ to the NICU. She had no body fat, nothing to keep her warm, and nothing to sustain the typical after-birth weight loss that most babies experience.

She also turned out to be a very stubborn eater, which for a baby that only weighs a little over 3 pounds, she couldn’t aﬀord. When she would eat, she needed a large amount of calories to make up for all of the times she wouldn’t eat.

I was able to pump and we attempted to bottle feed with that, but it simply wasn’t enough. Haley was starting to lose weight and the NICU doctors were going to have to put her on a feeding tube if she wasn’t able to gain. Thankfully, our saving grace came in the form of high-calorie formula made speciﬁcally for situations like this. After a few days of being right on the cusp of needing a feeding tube, Haley started to gain weight. It was only a little, but it was enough to keep the tubes away and buy us more time. She kept eating and she kept growing. After about ten days in the NICU, we got to bring our girl home.

Because she was so small, she would end up being on preterm post-discharge formula for the next six months until she was able to be transitioned to “regular” formula, which she eventually grew out of as a typical baby would. She gained weight, she grew, and is now a happy and healthy 10 year-old.

We’re so thankful that preterm formulas were an option because I really don’t know what choices we would have had without it.