Mom ‘could not believe it’ when her micropremia was allowed to go home (exclusively)



Need to know

  • Thelma Hernandez finally brought his baby son Aaron home after he spent almost five months in Nicu at Sunrise Children’s Hospital in Las Vegas
  • Aaron was born in just 22 weeks of pregnancy, and Hernandez tells Poeple that she was there for every day he spent at the hospital
  • Although the experience was “really hard,” says the mother that her child is a “fighter” who surprised everyone

A mother finally has her child at home with her – and she says the feeling is “amazing.”

Thelma Hernandez, 39, welcomed her son Aaron on February 18 when she was only 22 weeks pregnant. At his birth, Aaron weighed only 1 pound, 1 oz.

After spending almost five months at Sunrise Children’s Hospital in Las Vegas, the mother finally got the news she was waiting for: It was time to bring her son home.

“It’s a blessing,” Hernandez says, adding that while “expecting him to come home with oxygen and with a feeding pipe,” that did not end up.

Although the expanded hospital stay was “really hard” at Hernandez, the mother says she developed a routine during Aaron’s time in Nicu.

Every day she would come to take care of him, change diaper and held him while he was intubated and could not eat. As he improved, Hernandez was able to feed him during her visit to Nicu.

Since she was told to keep her child would help him to “feel loved” and “feel better”, Hernandez says that she held Aaron for three to four hours in the morning, and then another four hours in the afternoon-and when she was not home or the hospital she did schoolpicks and releases with her 13-year-old daughter.

Aaron is held by Thelma at his NICU degree.

Sunrise Children’s Hospital


When it was time to take Aaron home, Hernandez admits that she was surprised. He had recently undergone surgery and expected him to need at least a month to recover.

Instead, she was told that he “did so well” and eaten perfectly. He was even ready to be taken by oxygen.

“I was in shock,” she reminds. “For a few days I couldn’t believe it.”

When the big day came, Sunrise threw a sweet celebration of graduation in his honor, a tradition for infants leaving his Nicu.

Aaron and his family-to-Hernandez, her husband and Aaron’s 13-year-old sister-posed for photos in front of a wall showing how many days Aaron had been in Nicu and how many pounds he was when he arrived. Aaron even wore an adorable little hat and dress.

“It’s a really big performance to get him home after all these months,” says the proud mother.

Aaron is held by his parents as he prepares to leave Nicu.

Sunrise Children’s Hospital


Hernandez is especially grateful for the team that cared about Aaron in Nicu, including his nurses, of which some “even changed shifts just to be there when he needed surgery.” She says, “They treated Aaron as if it were their family.”

Everyone in Nicu got to know his son well during the months he spent there and his mother says that some nurses even came by the clock to be there for Aaron’s big day.

When Aaron finally arrived home, the highest priority was to have a family over to spend time with him. “We just stayed with him all day. I couldn’t believe I had him here,” reminds Hernandez of Aaron’s first day outside the hospital.

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Eventually, Hernandez hopes to take Aaron on a trip to visit her mother in Mexico this fall.

“When you see the small, little children, is the first thing that comes to your mind, how will they survive?” she says. “They are starting to grow, but there are also many challenges.”

But her son surprised everyone.

“He’s really strong,” says Hernandez, “and he’s a real fighter.”



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