Small miracle -- Dangerously premature baby defies odds

  • Published
  • By Crystal Toenjes
  • 72nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFPN) --  The greatest miracles come in the smallest packages. Just ask Tinker’s Nash family.

Genevieve Faith Nash, the fifth child and first daughter of Staff Sgt. Gary Nash and his wife, Kelley, will be 5 months old when she celebrates her first Christmas, but she was supposed to be just 6 weeks old.

“She is definitely a miracle,” Mrs. Nash said. “We know she is here for a reason.”

Genevieve was born July 21, only 11 inches long and weighing 1 pound and 2 ounces, 23 weeks and four days into Mrs. Nash’s pregnancy. Her first diapers were about the size of a deck of cards, but still too big for the tiny girl.

Sergeant Nash, an air traffic controller with the 72nd Operations Support Squadron, had just returned from being deployed to Iraq, and the family was making plans to move into a new home. Mrs. Nash was just starting to show her pregnancy when her water broke. Genevieve was born five days later.

The staff at the first hospital they checked into told them that after their baby was born, they would be allowed to hold her until she died. But they would not offer any aggressive life support measures because she was so small.

“We told them that wasn’t OK,” Sergeant Nash said.

The family was told that, statistically, Genevieve had very little chance of surviving being born so early.

“But where do you draw the line with something like that,” Mrs. Nash said.

After being told they would not be allowed to leave the hospital for another facility, Sergeant Nash called the police. Then, they were allowed to leave, and he drove his wife to another medical center.

“They had a whole team of neonatologists, and the doctors let us know every step of the way what was going on,” he said.

There were many times when everyone thought she was going to die, but she kept fighting, Sergeant Nash said.

“Until you tell us it’s impossible, we’re not going to give up,” he said recalling his many conversations with the medical staff.

Mrs. Nash was allowed to kiss her daughter for the first time when she was 5 weeks old and was able to hold her the following day.

While in the hospital, Genevieve had more than 100 transfusions of blood products and had 20 percent of her small intestine removed. She will need one more operation to further correct her digestive system when she reaches 10 pounds.

The baby’s medical discharge paperwork listed 26 different diseases or disorders that she overcame to get to where she is now.

Genevieve came home to her four older brothers Nov. 16, two days after the day she was supposed to be born, weighing about 5 pounds and 8 ounces.

A nurse comes by three times a week to weigh her and check on her progress. Her breathing, oxygen levels and heart rate continue to be monitored.

She is also carefully and lovingly monitored by four junior caretakers, their mother said.

Her oldest brother Jeffrey, 10, is always there to help out his parents with whatever they need, and is usually the first one to react when alarms signal she might be having trouble breathing. Uriah, 5, holds her hand and checks on her, too, Mrs. Nash said.

Daniel, 3, is the most attentive to her, and Silas, 1, was fascinated with her when she was in the hospital.

Doctors have told the Nash family that as far as they can tell, Genevieve suffered no brain damage, and today she is pretty much like any newborn baby.

She may have some hearing and vision loss and is at a greater risk for learning disabilities, which is common for premature babies, but they will not know for sure until she is older and can undergo additional tests.

“Her prognosis is amazing,” Mrs. Nash said.

The family said they have been overwhelmed by the e-mails of support and prayers they have received from people all over the world.

They said doctors still have no idea what caused Genevieve to join them so early, but they spend little time wondering about why it happened and cherish every moment they have together now.

“This whole time God has had a hand in this, making sure everything worked out right,” Mrs. Nash said. “God has had a purpose for her from the very beginning.”