The story of Hayden, as told by his mom, Emily

My son Hayden arrived early after I developed preeclampsia. He was born at exactly 27 weeks, weighing 1 lb 10 oz (740 grams) and was 13 in length. He was a feisty little guy from the moment he made his early entry, crying out and grabbing every tube and wire he could find. His challenge from birth was growing and gaining weight, he needed to get bigger and strengthen his lungs so he could come home healthy and wire free.

The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has an incredible lactation consultant who works exclusively with NICU moms. Within the first few hours of Hayden’s life, the lactation consultant was teaching me and my husband how to hand express my milk. It was extremely important to me that Hayden be a breastmilk-fed baby for all the amazing antibodies. I pumped on a very strict schedule and worked with the lactation consultant and nurses so that my milk would come in strong.

As soon as Hayden was cleared for tube feeds, the NICU recommended Prolact+ H2MF and explained that it was the only human milk fortifier made from 100% breastmilk. It was extremely important to me that Hayden receive breastmilk from the start of his life.  Without hesitation, we added Prolacta fortifier to my breastmilk, aiding in his growth, weight gain, and development.

Hayden had to reach many milestones before he was able to come home, and we celebrated each of them. We celebrated when he reached 1 kg, 2 kg, began wearing clothes, was able to maintain his body temperature, could breathe without supplemental support, started feeding by both bottle and breast, and more!

It was amazing to see his fight to thrive! Despite all the stresses in the NICU experience, Hayden was incredibly lucky to have a team of doctors, nurses, and therapists that were quick to react and address any changes and keep him on track as he grew from a 1 lb 10 oz baby into the 5 lb cordless baby we brought home 76 days later.