Born 18 weeks early, Jimena “JC” Macias had overcome the odds of her premature birth after her mother Juana Gallegos gave birth at only 22 weeks on April 29, 2021 at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center.
Jimena “JC” Macias weighed 1 lb., 9 oz., and measured 11 inches long. At the time, JC’s mom, Juana Gallegos, began to feel sick and later went into labor when she was just 22 weeks pregnant.
Gallegos said doctors told her “they weren’t going to be able to resuscitate her or be able to do anything for her if she was born there, at that time, that early.” To give her daughter the best possible chance, Gallegos went to Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center in Shenandoah, Texas.
At Memorial Hermann, which features a level III neonatal intensive care unit, Gallegos gave birth to JC, who was put on a ventilator and given nutrition through an IV.
Last month — after spending 112 days in the NICU — her parents were finally given the news they’d been waiting for since April: JC was cleared to go home.
JC’s father, Eduardo Macias, also told that he and Gallegos are thankful for their newborn, saying, “We see it in a different point of view as grateful, because we wouldn’t experience that if she wasn’t here.”
While JC is no longer in the NICU, she is still undergoing physical therapy, though doctors say the baby is right on track for all of her milestones.
Luckily, recent advancements in neonatal care and technology have improved their chances of survival — making stories like JC’s rare but not unheard of.
Premature babies are categorized as any baby born more than three weeks before their estimated due date, according to the Mayo Clinic. Premature babies, like JC, can have “complicated medical problems” and often “need a longer hospital stay in a special nursery unit at the hospital.”
Whether it was a medical marvel that saved her or some kind of miracle, JC’s family is simply happy she’s here.
“We see it in a different point of view as grateful,” said her father, Eduardo Macias, “because we wouldn’t experience that if she wasn’t here.”
