For Savanna Buller and her youngest daughter, Margo, the journey home from the hospital was nearly nine months long. Baby Margo was born at 25 weeks last summer and weighed a mere 1 lb., 5 oz.
Now, the family of six is together under one roof.
“She was the size of a water bottle,” her mother recalled. “She was very tiny. You look at this little baby and think, ‘How are you supposed to survive?’”
Savanna and Daniel are high school sweethearts and have a 9-year-old son, 6-year-old daughter, and 3-year-old son. Savanna had no complications with her first three pregnancies, but when Baby Margo was about 20 weeks along, Savanna’s blood pressure spiked and she developed preeclampsia.
Five weeks later, the mom’s lungs began filling with fluid. Doctors delivered Margo via an emergency c-section on August 14, 2023.
Shortly after birth, Margo developed necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a life-threatening illness. The medical team airlifted her three-and-a-half hours away to Children’s Hospital New Orleans.
The family felt uncertain if Margo would survive the flight — but the preemie’s strength amazed both her loved ones and her doctors.
Margo now weighs over 14 lbs after graduating from the NICU and joining her family at home.
“Life here at home is amazing. I am over the moon,” Buller, a 29-year-old NICU nurse, told PEOPLE. “I kept trying to tell myself, this is real life. Yesterday, I kept thinking I’m about to wake up from this dream and realize, oh man, that was a good dream. It didn’t even feel real. I’m so excited.”
Savanna continued, “And our kids, they all had on their matching little shirts, big brother, big sister. And my coworkers had actually put up a sign in our front yard that said, ‘Welcome home, Margo.’ So I literally teared up when I saw that, I was so surprised.”
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With their youngest now finally home, the mother of four is savoring every moment, especially since Margo sleeps soundly — the first night home she slept for 10 hours!
Savanna adds that her youngest is “finally on the growth curve” and is in the 50th percentile for weight.
“She’s catching up and it’s so good to see her thriving,” the mom tells PEOPLE. “It’s so cute. Whenever she sees her siblings — we would FaceTime every day in the NICU and she could recognize their faces through FaceTime — but now she just grins and grabs at their little faces. I get chills just talking about it because my heart just, I feel like it’s going to skip beats and explode.”
Savanna adds, “We cannot wait to spend the summer together. I feel so lucky. I know I said that early on how lucky I felt to call Margo ours, but I really do truly feel lucky.”
Now, in 2024, babies once thought to be too small, too premature – even babies born at 25 weeks – are celebrating their birthdays year after year. This story serves as a reminder of the preciousness of human Life and the importance of protecting it at every stage.
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