Baby Trinity, who was born at under 2 pounds, is now more than 11 pounds.
ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY — A baby went home after spending five months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Catholic Health’s Mercy Hospital.
Trinity Alexandria Rose Taylor, who was discharged last week after 146 days in the NICU, was born a micro-premature baby at just 26 weeks and weighed only 1 pound, 14 ounces.
By the time the newborn headed home, she was a healthy 11 pounds, 8.5 ounces.
Dr. Swarna Devarajan, Director of Neonatology and Chair of the hospital’s Pediatrics Department, said this was one of the longest NICU stints she’s seen in her 26 years at Mercy.
Mother LaTashia Morris had no complications from the birth, with her normal four days in the hospital, Devarajan said.
As a Level 3 NICU hospital, nurses and doctors are quite experienced in caring for preemies like Trinity.
“She was very small. She has lung immaturity,” Dr. Devarajan told Patch. “She needed the ventilator. That’s what we do. This is our speciality.”
During the process to gain the baby’s strength, “we use mom’s milk. We also have donor breast milk for mothers who cannot make their own milk,” she said. “I’m so proud to say that Trinity, as of coming home, was still getting half of her feeds from mommy’s milk.”
While her mom was there often, for other times, Morris left a cellphone at the baby’s bedside to make sure she didn’t miss any milestones.
But in the early going, milestones were the last things on anyone’s mind.
“We told the parents that it’s hour by hour and day by day,” Devarajan said. “The mom and dad were extremely anxious.”
Devarajan said even as the baby saw improvement, “she had periods when she would go down, then get better and go down again.”
That’s why Trinity spent so long in the NICU.
“We had to get her off the ventilator, then we had to get her off the oxygen. Then the feeding was problematic,” the doctor said. “It was a step-by-step-by-step improvement.”
Despite the uncertainty with her long hospital stay, the parents were “so resilient,” said Devarajan. “It was such an honor, and a pleasure, to take care of her. They were with us 100 percent, participating in everything.”
With a clean bill of health, Trinity is now home in Freeport with her family.
“She’s almost five months old, but she is so developmentally on track,” she said.
Trinity and her mom will return for follow-up visits every two weeks and regularly until she’s two years old, “[when] I’m comfortable that all are milestones are in place,” Devarajan said.
Trinity loves Disney songs, including her favorite “Hakuta Matata” from “The Lion King,” playing on her mom’s phone.