A Little Miracle: Tiny Baby Makes It Home
Published: June 22, 2005
Born at 23 weeks, weighing in at 13 ounces and 7 inches tall, little Amelia Faith Herman is truly a miracle for her parents.
Melissa Herman gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on Dec. 9, 2004, and was able to bring her home only a little over a month ago.
After five months in the hospital with various complications along the way, Amelia is now home with her mother, father, Jeff, older brother, Aiden, and her dog, Bailey.
Melissa Herman was told early on that she would be having twins. When she was three months along, the doctor told her that the babies had “twin-to-twin transfusion,” which meant one of the twins was going to be bigger because it was getting all the nutrients.
“When they warned me about pre-term labor I didn’t think it would happen to me,” she says.
Amelia was the “runt,” but she was the one who survived. Her sister, Anya Leigh, had a heart condition that contributed to her death.
The couple was told twice between the dates of Dec. 9 and Dec. 22 that Amelia would not make it.
The Hermans traveled back and forth every day to Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem while Amelia was still in the care of her specialists.
They wanted to keep life as normal as possible for their son Aiden, who is almost 3, so they would take him to school or daycare before making the trip to see Amelia.
“He’s done remarkably well,” says Herman. “When she was in the hospital, she was smaller than her stuffed animals, so I don’t think Aiden realized she was real.”
Aiden has now taken on the role of big brother and helps out his mother whenever he can by feeding and burping Amelia.
After her birth, Amelia had a cerebral hemorrhage. Her blood vessels just weren’t strong enough yet to stand on their own, according to the doctors. Next, baby Amelia developed a problem with her intestines. The doctors said she was too small, and they weren’t willing to operate, says her mother.
“Her father and I began to prepare ourselves for her to die,” Herman says.
But after 72 hours, Amelia was still live and doing well, and a week later the doctors decided to operate.
She has also developed retinopathy, which is a disease of the retina. She had surgery to take care of that issue, but she will likely have to wear glasses when she gets older.
Amelia also developed a heart murmur after all her surgeries, but doctors told the Hermans that it was probably due to all of the stress her body had been through. Another surgery had to be done to close the PDA (patent ductus arteriosus) between the two ventricles in her heart.
Amelia, now home from the hospital, and weighing almost eight pounds, still has to make weekly visits to Winston-Salem. She is on an oxygen tank now, but her parents hope she will be weaned off of it within the next few months. Doctors also have her on an apnea monitor just as a precaution.
Melissa Herman is now back at work at her usual 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, where she is a dietitian for the diabetic program.
Jeff Herman is now self-employed selling medical supplies and surgical equipment.
The couple has hired a nanny to care for Amelia during the day.
The family dog, Bailey, is also taking on a role as caretaker when it comes to baby Amelia.
“He is very protective,” Melissa Herman says. Bailey has made himself security guard to the baby so whenever a stranger comes into the house he places himself between the guest and the baby.
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Living Miracles: Stories of Hope from Parents of Premature Babies“The hardest thing about all of this was the pace at which things changed,” Herman says. “We could leave Winston-Salem, and everything would be fine, but before we got home we’d have a call saying things had changed. It’s a real roller coaster ride with changes from minute to minute.”
Herman says the best part of being a mother is seeing the smiles on the faces of her children.
“No matter how hard your day is they just bring you such joy,” she says. “They help put life in perspective about what’s really important.”
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