When Ruby entered the world, she weighed just 1 pound, 2 ounces, and measured 10.6 inches long. But her story turned out to be anything but small. In fact, parts of Ruby’s big story go back decades before her mom Becca was pregnant with her.
A difficult journey
Becca and Jon welcomed their son Charlie in 2020 after a healthy pregnancy. Then in 2022, Becca was expecting a baby girl, but she was born at 21 weeks and did not survive. They named her Penelope. After that pregnancy, Becca was finding it much harder to get pregnant again than it was with Charlie and Penelope, and she experienced two more pregnancy losses. She needed several procedures to repair her uterus and remove scar tissue that had formed (called Asherman syndrome). It was a difficult journey with years of loss and grief. Finally, she became pregnant with Ruby in 2024.
Ready or not, here she comes
Everything seemed to be going well with this pregnancy until about halfway through the second trimester. Becca was being cared for by a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at a clinic near their home in River Falls, Wisconsin. A18 weeks gestation, Becca’s cervix began to shorten, so she had a cervical cerclage placed to try to stop it from opening further. Her care provider said if the shortening was still happening at 23 weeks, Becca would need to be admitted to the hospital.
At 22 weeks and four days, Becca was feeling contractions and pressure, so they drove from River Falls to The Mother Baby Center, a partnership between Allina Health and Children’s Minnesota, in Minneapolis. Her care team confirmed Becca’s contractions were 5 to 7 minutes apart.
During the next few hours, Becca’s contractions slowed, but her care team agreed to admit her because an amniotic fluid test indicated her water had broken. Becca remembers the conversation with a Children’s Minnesota neonatologist at that time: “She told us the odds of our baby surviving at 22 weeks were 40% and at 23 weeks they were 65%. And we were at 22 weeks and five days. So, we thought those were pretty good odds!” They also knew they didn’t have much choice; their baby was on her way.
Impossibly tiny but mighty
Becca gave birth to baby Ruby on March 10, 2025. She remembers the delivery being a calm experience. “Everything [about the delivery] went according to plan, considering it wasn’t really our plan,” said Becca. “It all seemed so organized and everyone knew what to do. I felt in very good hands.”
The NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) team didn’t need to resuscitate Ruby, which is often the case with preemies. “She was impossibly tiny. And yet, from the beginning, Ruby showed us who she was,” said Becca.
Ruby was a micropreemie, which means she was born before 26 weeks and weighed under 1 pound, 12 ounces. She spent 119 days in the Children’s Minnesota NICU and neonatal program. She underwent patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) heart surgery at 2 weeks old to repair a blood vessel that didn’t close because she was born early. After the surgery, the anesthesiologist told Becca and Jon he will never forget Ruby because she was the smallest patient he had ever cared for.
Becca remembers very well the excellent care she and her family received from neonatologist Jennifer Berger, DO, the nurses, and the many specialists they saw at Children’s Minnesota. “Having a care team who knew Ruby, knew us and understood everything we had been through made the NICU feel a little less frightening,” said Becca. “The ways they could bring comfort and positivity during such an uncertain time is something I will never forget. It felt like a second home.”
A special link nearly four decades in the making
Another reason the Children’s Minnesota NICU feels like a special place to Becca and Jon’s family is because Jon was also a preemie who was cared for there in 1987. He was born at 28 weeks gestation and was 3 pounds at birth. During their time there for Ruby, Becca and Jon met a nurse who said she was likely working there at the time Jon was a baby in the NICU. Jon had a collapsed lung and was treated with therapies that were new at the time. “It’s the reason Jon especially wanted to get Ruby to Children’s Minnesota. He has a strong connection and knows they are the best,” said Becca.
Ahead of schedule
During her four months at Children’s Minnesota, Ruby continued to grow and experienced no major setbacks. Ruby was discharged on July 7, 2025, which was two days before her original due date. She went home without oxygen or a feeding tube, which is remarkable for a baby born at 22 weeks and five days.
Becca also really wanted to breastfeed Ruby but because she was so tiny, it was hard to do, and luckily Ruby was feeding well on bottles. Still, Becca had been trying with the help of the lactation specialists. Two weeks after they were home, she was exclusively breastfeeding Ruby.
Ruby today
Today, Ruby is an active, happy, fearless 18-month-old who is growing bigger and stronger every day. She crawls, pulls herself to stand, scales furniture, and will take a step when she wants, as she tries to keep up with her big brother. She also talks a lot. Her favorite words are “mommy,” “dada,” “bubble,” “bye,” and “num-nums” (food).
Ruby continues to have some regular follow-up care to monitor her kidneys and other areas of development at the Children’s Minnesota intensive care follow-up clinic. And, her family loves seeing her continue to grow. Becca explains, “Every appointment gives us another opportunity to see just how far she has come.”
