Loretta Helmes remembers the first time her son Trey, now 3, called her “Mama.”
“He was in the hospital right after his first birthday,” she said. “I was laying on the sofa bed, and he was in the crib. He leaned over looking over me and said ‘Ma-Ma.’ ”
It was a priceless moment for the Scottsville woman – one that some of the medical professionals who cared for Trey in his early years didn’t necessarily think would happen. Trey was born Sept. 6, 2007, at Helmes’ 29th week of pregnancy. The average pregnancy is 40 weeks.
“After I had him, doctors told me most likely he wouldn’t survive the night,” Helmes said. “Through God, my little boy is here.”
According to the March of Dimes, “one in eight babies born in the (United States) is premature. The rate of premature birth in America is higher than that of most other developed nations.” While premature births can be caused by illnesses such as preeclampsia and illicit drug use, most of the time the cause is unknown, said Dianna Karoffa, a registered pediatric nurse with The Medical Center Home Care Program.
“The babies sometimes have to stay in the hospital until their due date or until they reach a weight goal,” she said.
Karoffa visits the families once the baby goes home, sometimes making several visits in the first week to assess the baby as well as teach the parents how to take care of their baby.
“I teach them what I’m looking for. I reinforce infant and child CPR,” she said. “If they haven’t had a baby before, they learn from the top to the bottom.”
Complications that may afflict premature babies include respiratory problems, nutrition and feeding issues, developmental delays and neurological problems, Karoffa said.
“If they have a brain hemorrhage, they can go into seizures,” she said. “Sometimes they don’t have those reflexes to suck.”
Prenatal care is important so that doctors can watch for signs of preterm labor and catch problems, Karoffa said. She also encourages parents to take their babies to follow-up doctor appointments and to bond with their babies even while they are in neonatal intensive care.
“If parents aren’t there to learn things, they won’t know what to do,” she said. “It makes a difference if you’re involved.”
Helmes said her water ruptured when she was 17 weeks pregnant. She was given the option to abort her baby, but she wouldn’t do it.
“They said he could come out missing limbs, have club feet, club hands or could very well not live,” she said. “I could not because it’s not in me to abort my baby.”
Helmes said she was angry at God and couldn’t pray because she felt it was unfair. Then one day she fell to her knees and gave it to the Lord. She felt as if a boulder had been lifted from her shoulders.
“I knew Trey was going to be OK,” she said.
Helmes was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville when she was 24 weeks pregnant. At 29 weeks, she gave birth to Trey by emergency cesarean section. He weighed 2 pounds, 2 ounces. From the beginning there were complications, including chronic lung disease, hemorrhaging in the brain, problems with his suck, swallow and gag reflex, and plummeting of his oxygen and heart rates.
“His lungs were the size of quarters and the right one collapsed completely. He was on maximum life support for two to three weeks,” she said. “He coded on them several times while he was at Vanderbilt. Being at Vanderbilt and being the parent of a premature baby is a scary thing.”
Trey was two weeks old before Helmes got to hold him, and then it was brief because touch was painful for him and he was hooked to so many machines.
“All I could do was gently touch him,” she said. “It’s hard to look at your son and know there’s nothing you can do but pray. He was so small and fragile it seemed like the world had just stopped, but God didn’t.”
Helmes continued to pray, and Trey was a fighter. He was discharged from the hospital after 89 days. While he had to be readmitted soon afterward, his stay was much shorter and he was released to go home on Christmas Eve.
“I believe that Trey’s testimony is a wonderful testimony of the Lord’s miracles that he still performs today,” she said. “If it wasn’t for God my son would not be here.”
Today, Trey has some complications, including chronic lung disease, secondary pulmonary hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux disease and speech and developmental delays. He has developed a suck and swallow reflex, but he has to eat through a feeding tube for 16 hours continuously. He walks a little without support, but most of the time he uses a walker. He has had four surgeries and various procedures. He has different types of therapists from The Medical Center Home Care Program who come in to help him regularly.
Despite his challenges, though, he is still very much like any other toddler.
“He loves trucks, tractors, Disney’s ‘Cars’ and ‘Toy Story.’ He says ‘Mama,’ ‘Dada,’ ‘go,’ ‘wow,’ ‘oh yeah’ and ‘hi.’ He’s a fun-loving, rowdy little 3-year-old.”
That doesn’t mean there aren’t times when Helmes is frightened.
“The scary times are not over just because you leave the hospital,” she said. “I still have a suitcase I keep packed just in case I have to run out the door. It’s like a roller-coaster ride. You strap yourself in and hold on for dear life.”
Helmes said she appreciates the support she has gotten from the medical professionals, friends, family, church and community.
“I feel very blessed,” she said. “When you have children, it’s life changing. When you have one with special needs, it’s not what you or anyone else in the family wants. It’s about that baby.”
vHelmes believes that God has something big in store for Trey.
“The Bible tells us that God does not make mistakes. That tells me that my son is absolutely perfect. He is a blessing,” she said. “I believe Trey is exactly the way the Lord wanted him to be. Trey still amazes me every day.”
