MIRACLE MONDAYS – Miles Kelly
On September 20th, Hillary Kelly (pregnant at the time) was diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome. HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count) syndrome usually develops before the 37th week of pregnancy and symptoms include nausea, headache, belly pain and swelling and treatment usually requires delivery of the baby, even if the baby is premature. “After becoming very ill, we learned of the need for Miles to be born,” said Hillary.
Miles Kelly was born just hours after Hillary’s diagnosis. “We had fear,” Hillary said. “Lots and lots of fear. We were totally unprepared for his entrance into the world and caring for his needs that we knew would arise. I was adjusting to the reality of being so sick and hoping Miles had the strength to push through in the NICU while I recovered in Labor and Delivery.”
Miles was born on September 21st, 2015 and spent three weeks in the NICU at St. John’s. “After a three week NICU stay, and many months of physical and speech therapy (and numerous other avenues of assistance), his outcome was wonderful!”
How did the family pull through this difficult time? “It was hard. We lived in Petersburg at the time and commuting was hard. We basically plowed through doing what we had to do….our Catholic faith was KEY!”
Today, Miles is a happy, healthy 4-year-old who loves riding his bike, cheering for the Blues and pizza!
The Kelly family will be forever grateful for the care they received at St. John’s. “We were more than grateful for everything. Though it’s a NICU, it was a place where we spent our first weeks getting to know our son and we will forever be grateful for that time.”
You can donate to provide exceptional care for kids like Miles at www.cmnhospitals.org.
Do you have a miracle child that was treated as HSHS St. John’s Children’s Hospital? Facebook message us or email dave.newton@hshs.org and tell us your story! #miraclemondays