Meet thriving Prolacta micro-preemies Rosie & Tommy along with their generous donor mom, Emily

When Emily and her husband decided they were ready to raise a family, she resigned from her job so she could stay home to raise their kids. While they knew the road would be challenging living in an old trailer on their grandparents’ land, they had each other.

While living in a remote part of California, Emily unexpectedly went into labor at 24 weeks. Their first child, Rosie, was born at 1 lb 5 oz (595 g) and as expected, had many challenges in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

"I had no indication or reason to believe my first pregnancy with Rosie would end so early. Our most recent ultrasound was her 20-week anatomy scan only 3 weeks before I went into labor. Even then I assumed I was simply having Braxton Hicks contractions, it wasn’t until my water broke that I knew I was in labor, and by then it was too late to stop it,” said Emily.

During their time in the NICU, Rosie had many complications, starting with a very low Apgar score.

“It was one challenge after another, and she truly fought for her life the entire NICU stay of 4 and a half months. Some of the biggest challenges consisted of tension pneumothorax, an intestinal perforation, and a failed piccolo procedure to close her PDA,” said Emily.

Rosie was unable to eat for the first month of her life due to gastrointestinal issues including the perforation in her intestine and slow motility. After about a month, she had her very first bowel movement and the hospital began feeds.

“We were blessed to be in a hospital that used Prolacta’s fortifiers for all their micro preemies. Because of Rosie’s complications, primarily relating to a sensitive, premature digestive system, as well as her extremely low weight of 1lb 5oz at a month old, it was imperative for her to be on Prolacta fortifier.

Not only did she need the extra calories as quickly as possible, but any other fortifier would have been too harsh on her tiny, delicate intestines. We are so grateful she didn’t develop NEC, a probable fate in her case if Prolacta products had not been available to us,” said Emily.

After nearly 5 months in the NICU, Rosie was able to go home. She just turned 3 and no longer has slow motility or any other health concerns. “She is extremely active and talkative with the best sense of humor. Looking at her you would never know she came even a day early,” added Emily.

Out of an abundance of caution, Emily and her family decided to move to a less remote part of California. While that meant renting a room at her parents’ house, it gave them access to the best possible care.

“We were about to move away when we found out we were pregnant with twins and decided to stay near the good hospitals,” said Emily.

Unfortunately, at 19 weeks, Emily went into labor prematurely for the second time with their twins. Cassian and Tommy were delivered at 22 weeks. “We lost our son, Cassian. His twin survived and spent 5 months in the NICU,” said Emily.

It’s been 18 months and Tommy is thriving. He is about to take his first steps and is on track developmentally.

“We couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s a big eater, always has been, and still enjoys nursing several times throughout the day,” said Emily.

Both of their surviving micro-preemies, Rosie and Tommy, received our fortifiers during their NICU stays, which Emily believes contributed greatly to their success.

“I was so grateful to Prolacta and decided to give back with my oversupply. How can I not be part of such an amazing organization that saves the lives of these precious babies?” asked Emily.

Emily became a Tiny Treasures donor after having Rosie. “I first heard about Prolacta during the first month of our NICU stay. I was exclusively pumping and freezing all my milk, praying that my daughter would be able to start consuming it eventually. However, I found out very quickly that I had been blessed with an oversupply, and though we bought a 7 ft.³ deep freezer exclusively for milk, I ran out of room within the first month of pumping,” said Emily.

Desperate not to waste her milk, Emily asked a NICU nurse what she thought she should do and was told about Prolacta. “Throughout my qualification process I became very attached to Prolacta, as I started to attribute it to my daughter’s survival. When I first applied, I was simply looking for a place my milk could go and not be wasted, but as I started donating, it became so much more to me as I realized firsthand that it saves lives. Prolacta helps save the lives of such fragile infants, and it’s the tiny humans that have my heart,” said Emily.

When she had her twin boys, Emily didn’t think she’d have enough milk to donate.

“When my beautiful son passed away, I decided to continue donating and just sent out box 56! With every ounce I pump I think about my sweet Cassian. This milk would have been his. But I smile because I know he’s looking down from heaven, happy to see it going to critically ill babies. I like to think he’d be proud of me, for making good use of it,” said Emily.

In addition to Rosie and Tommy thriving, the family is thriving as well. They bought their first home after spending 3 years living in a trailer and a small room.

“It’s our dream house, everything we ever wanted. My husband told me that the money I had saved from Prolacta was the difference that made it possible. I wasn’t in this for the money, but the money has changed everything for my family. Prolacta potentially saved the lives of my two children and got us out of a tiny room into a cozy home where we can raise our children close to my husband’s work,” said Emily.

Emily’s husband is a firefighter who had a long commute. However, with their new home, that has changed for the better as well. “We will now be 20-minutes away and able to visit when he’s stuck at the station for a month at a time during fire season,” said Emily.

“Prolacta, I hope you know the difference you make in so many lives. The preemies, the parents, and all their families. We are forever grateful," said Emily.

Rosie
Born: 24 weeks
Birth weight: 1 lb 5 oz (595 g)
Days in NICU: 130
Today: 3 years

Tommy
Born: 22 weeks
Birth weight: 1 lb 4 oz (567 g)
Days in NICU: 159
Today: 1.5 years

* Any views, opinions, findings, assertions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are solely those of the individual. The content is provided for informational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice.