When Tyesha Holland had her 19-week check-up with Atrium Health Women’s Care Maternal Fetal Medicine, she learned she had a shortened cervix. Tyesha had a procedure to reduce the risk of preterm labor, but at 25 weeks pregnant, she started to experience painful contractions that weren’t slowing down.
“I was so scared my baby was going to come too soon,” Tyesha says.
Critical Care for the Tiniest Patients
When Tyesha arrived at Atrium Health Cabarrus, she needed an emergency C-section to safely deliver her baby. Morgan Anderson was born on July 6, 2022, and weighed just 1 pound 8 ounces – about the size of a jar of peanut butter. Since Morgan was considered a micro preemie, she was immediately taken to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Three days after she was born, Tyesha was told that Morgan had symptoms of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), an illness that can occur in premature babies where their intestines, which may not be fully developed, become inflamed. While mom and baby were receiving the best care, Tyesha was told the complexity of Morgan’s condition required more advanced care from the region’s leading NICU. Morgan was transferred to Atrium Health Levine Children's Hospital, named a Best Children's Hospital for neonatology by U.S. News & World Report. “I was so scared when Morgan was transported in the helicopter to Levine Children’s Hospital,” Tyesha says. “But I knew this was the best chance for my baby to survive."
NEC can be severe and life-threatening. But Morgan’s case was resolved with surgery and a careful process of giving IV nutrition and antibiotics for a period of time, then slowing restarting and advancing her feedings.
“She is a fighter.”
Morgan’s next challenge was being able to breathe on her own.
“She was doing well until it was time to take her off her breathing tube,” Tyesha says. “We tried to remove it seven times. I remember seeing my baby flatline and turn purple because she couldn’t breathe on her own.”
Morgan’s pulmonology team at Levine Children’s, also ranked nationally by U.S. News & World Report, worked with her to help her transition off the ventilator. Morgan had surgery for a tracheostomy tube – or trach – to help her breathe.
"Most babies who have a trach also need to have a gastrostomy tube (G-tube) – a feeding tube that helps them get the nutrients they need,” says Dr. Patricia Dias, one of Morgan’s neonatologists at Levine Children’s. “But Morgan amazed us by sucking on a pacifier and eating from a bottle, so we saw that she was ready to try eating on her own.”
Dias says Morgan is the first baby that she has seen in all her years to go home with a trach but not a G-tube.
“Morgan is an overachiever,” Dias says. “She is a fighter.”
Caring for the Caregiver
As Morgan continued her journey at Levine Children’s, Tyesha says the support she received from the care team extended beyond Morgan’s care to make sure Tyesha felt supported, too.
“Dr. Dias and all the members of the care team were there for us along the way,” Tyesha says. “They took the time to answer all my questions and heard me when I had concerns. Knowing Morgan was in good hands made me feel like I could get some rest.”
Tyesha says Morgan’s nurses worked with her on her feeding and helped her learn to take a bottle.
“If they hadn’t helped her and advocated for her, she probably would have had to have the G-tube,” Tyesha says.
One-derful wins
Morgan spent five months in the NICU at Levine Children’s Hospital. In February 2023, Morgan was able to go home and experience her first days outside the hospital. Levine Children’s made the transition easier by having the region’s only NICU follow-up program, a seamless care plan that includes consistent follow-ups and check-ins with her doctors.
Morgan continues to make great strides in the months that she has been home. She was given the thumbs up to start baby food and has been continuing with speech therapy to help ensure she doesn’t have any challenges with aspiration.
Now approaching her first birthday, Tyesha is grateful to reflect on all the milestones they have been able to celebrate along the way. Developmentally, Morgan is reaching milestones similar to a 6-month-old baby, but her doctors are not concerned about her development and skills for the time being, since she is rolling over and trying to sit up on her own. Like many babies, toys with lights and sounds bring her the most joy. Aside from seeing her mom, of course.
“As soon as she wakes up in the morning, she looks around to make sure I’m there,” Tyesha says. “Morgan is mighty and resilient. I often ask myself how I got this lucky to have such a good baby. It’s amazing to think of where she started and where she is now.”
Aside from graduating from the NICU and getting to go home, one of the biggest upcoming developments for Morgan and Tyesha is the possibility of using a device that would allow Tyesha to hear her baby girl’s voice – something she had never heard since speech and sound can be affected by a trach.
Morgan has gone from not being able to breathe on her own at all to only needing the ventilator when she is sleeping. Her care team is hoping she will be able to be off the ventilator completely by the end of the summer – a huge milestone! Both Morgan and Tyesha are ready to face the challenges ahead, knowing how much they have already overcome.
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