When Ashley was pregnant with her sixth baby, she faced complications no parent expects. Despite normal growth throughout her first trimester, Ashley’s water broke prematurely at just 17 weeks. This left baby Myah with little to no amniotic fluid and serious risks, including infection, preterm labor and underdeveloped lungs.
Ashley and her husband, Sean, were told by their home hospital in Andover that their baby might not survive. But Ashley and Sean were not ready to give up hope.
“We just prayed and prayed and prayed,” Ashley said.
Seeking a second opinion
Encouraged to seek a second opinion by their family, Ashley and Sean came to Children’s Minnesota, where they met Tara Zamora, MD, a neonatologist. Dr. Zamora recommended that they wait and hope to make it past the next few weeks in order to safely deliver.
Ashley and Sean spent the next few weeks at home, praying for a healthy pregnancy. For the most part, the rest of her pregnancy was typical, with frequent checkups. They held onto hope while trying to let Myah grow strong enough, knowing a premature birth without amniotic fluid was incredibly risky. Ashley was admitted to The Mother Baby Center, a partnership between Allina Health and Children’s Minnesota, in Minneapolis at 22 weeks.
Meeting Myah
At 24 weeks, Ashley went into preterm labor after developing an infection. Myah was breeched, meaning she was facing the wrong way when Ashley went into labor, so Ashley needed an emergency c-section. Before delivery, Jennifer Berger, MD, Children’s Minnesota neonatologist, came into the operating room and held Ashley’s hand.
“She said, ‘We are going to take such good care of your baby girl,’” Ashley said. “I just felt total peace that they were going to do everything they could.”
Myah was born on Feb. 12, 2025, weighing just 1 pound, 4 ounces. When babies are born prematurely, one of the biggest concerns is their lung development. Due to her prematurity and the early loss of fluid around her, Myah’s lungs had not yet developed fully. She wasn’t breathing and needed immediate support from the Children’s Minnesota neonatal team. In her first days and weeks, Myah faced collapsed lungs, infections, sepsis and prolonged respiratory support, but she kept fighting.
“One of the doctors told Sean, ‘You need to be thankful you have this feisty fighter of a little girl,’” Ashley said. “That carried through her whole stay.”
For 175 days, Myah’s care team helped her grow stronger. She received lifesaving respiratory care, developmental support, occupational and physical therapy, and routine eye care for retinopathy of prematurity, a disease that causes abnormal blood vessels to grow in the retina, which can lead to vision loss.
Myah grew exponentially in her time in the hospital and went home earlier than expected. Even though they expected to stay in the hospital for a year based on Myah’s complications, she was discharged at only six months. During her time at Children’s Minnesota, she picked up the nickname Miracle Myah.
Gratitude in the hospital
Ashley remembers being amazed by the expertise and compassion of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) team.
“The ability to place chest tubes and PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) lines in a baby that small is lifesaving,” Ashley said. “It gave me a whole new respect for what they do.”
The family also felt supported beyond Myah’s medical care. With five other children at home, Ashley and Sean relied on Myah’s nurses, child life specialists, the Family Resource Center, the sibling play area and the Ronald McDonald House to help them through a long and difficult hospital stay.
“Myah’s outcome is extraordinary in the face of the risk of her early delivery,” said Dr. Zamora. “It took very specialized staff to care for Myah. I’m constantly impressed by the intricacy and intention at which these teams function to support our most vulnerable patients.”
Ashley especially remembers Myah’s primary nurse, Emily Petermeier.
“She was our angel,” Ashley said. “She went above and beyond in everything she did for Myah.”
Thriving at home
Today, Myah is thriving. At 19 months old she is healthy, happy and full of personality. She loves food, laughs often, plays with her siblings, climbs stairs and is close to walking.
Ashley calls her feisty, fearless and a “spitfire.” “She’s 100% normal,” Ashley said. “You would never know she had such a rocky beginning.”
Myah has no heart issues, no lung issues, no feeding issues and no cognitive delays. For Ashley and Sean, Myah will always be their miracle.
“We called her our Miracle Myah,” Ashley said. “How God used the people at Children’s Minnesota to give me a healthy, flourishing baby is something I’ll be forever grateful for.”
Myah’s beginning was fragile, but her story is one of strength, expert care and hope. Today, she is growing, thriving and showing everyone the spirit that helped her fight from the very beginning.
