In 2024, Angela juggled life as a busy mom of two children, Lyla and Luca. She worked as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) and attended school. Expecting her third child, Angela looked forward to giving birth in June. But in February, at just 23 weeks pregnant, everything changed — Angela gave birth prematurely to her daughter Lilia.
Angela’s pregnancy and Lilia’s birth
Angela felt stressed during her third pregnancy. “My pregnancy was scary from the first 10-week scan,” Angela remembers. Her care team at The Mother Baby Center, a partnership between Allina Health and Children’s Minnesota, was worried about her baby having a possible life-threatening condition called Noonan syndrome. After having countless scans, labs and tests done, they were able to rule it out.
Angela already had a previous history of premature births with her other two children, so she had extra stress throughout her pregnancy, on top of working and going to school.
At 23 weeks, things took a turn for the worse. Angela became dehydrated and spiked a fever. Knowing that something might be wrong, she went to the hospital. Hours later, Angela went into labor and gave birth at The Mother Baby Center in Minneapolis.
Angela was immediately worried about her new daughter. “I’m a CNA so I now know that if she’s not a certain weight the equipment could be too small for her, and she simply wouldn’t make it,” remembers Angela.
Emergency care
Two emergency rooms. All for kids. Expert pediatric care using the latest techniques.
Lilia’s Children’s Minnesota stay
After being born, Lilia was immediately brought to the Children’s Minnesota neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) where she would receive expert care to help her develop and grow. She would end up being in the NICU for 128 days. After that, she spent six more weeks in the infant care center (ICC) at Children’s Minnesota.
“Every day was a blessing that she was here, fighting and stable,” said Angela. “The care we received at Children’s [Minnesota] was amazing.”
Angela spent a lot of time at Children’s Minnesota with her daughter, Lilia, so she experienced many of the wrap-around child and family services we offer. She joined a mom group that met within the hospital, she experienced our spiritual care program, met with social workers and more.
Above and beyond care from a nurse
Angela notes the exceptional care she received from her full care team at Children’s Minnesota, but one person really stood out to her family – their NICU nurse, Jill Dotzler.
“Jill is simply amazing,” said Angela. “She listened to all my questions. Let me have unnecessary worries that were easily talked away, and she truly loved Lilia.”
Angela recalls many fond memories of Jill and the compassionate care she provided. For example, while Lilia was in the NICU, she developed pneumonia. During this time, Angela’s dad and stepmom were having their wedding. Angela was worried about leaving Lilia to attend the wedding because she was sick. That’s where Jill came in.
“She made sure to know what time to have the [NICU] camera on Lilia and even had a sweet bow on her head as honorary flower girl with her big sister,” remembers Angela. “Jill was our rock, our comfort and our home.”
Angela was so appreciative of the care she received from Jill. She nominated Jill for a DAISY Award, which is a recognition program to celebrate and recognize nurses by collecting nominations from patients, families and co-workers. Jill won the award!
Lilia’s continued care after going home
Because of her premature birth, Lilia continues to work through a number of medical challenges. She has chronic lung disease and was born with three heart defects (one has since resolved). Lilia also has delays in speech and her gross and fine motor skills and is very small for her age.
After 128 days in the NICU and six weeks in the ICC, Angela was finally able to bring Lilia home. With her conditions, Lilia’s care team at Children’s Minnesota is very comprehensive. Since being home, she has been seen by a number of expert teams at Children’s Minnesota, including physical therapy (PT), speech, cardiology, pulmonology and general medicine.
Since being home, Lilia has experienced some respiratory issues on and off, so she has been back and forth to Children’s Minnesota. Plus, she recently had her NG tube replaced with a G–tube and is relearning to eat and drink.
Lilia is also in our NICU Follow-Up Clinic, a clinic that provides continuing care for babies who were born premature, with medical complexities.
Lilia today
Today, Lilia is now 19 months old. “She is sweet as can be with a funny and feisty side coming out,” said Angela. Lilia is very fast at crawling and walks with a walker.
“She likes to do whatever her big brother and sister are doing,” said Angela. “She is truly along for the ride when it comes to traveling and going out to activities and family outings.”
