A Texas baby born unexpectedly in North Dakota has returned home, happy and healthy, to the Lone Star State.
When Wyatt Russell was born the day after Christmas, he weighed only 1.5 pounds. The family had no indication that Wyatt would be making an early appearance, and was visiting family in North Dakota for Christmas when his mother, Crystal, hemorrhaged in her sleep on Christmas night. She was rushed to the hospital, where little Wyatt was delivered via emergency C-section.
Crystal was barely halfway through her pregnancy when Wyatt was born at 24 weeks’ gestation. As Texas Right to Life reported in January, the North Dakota community went to great lengths to ensure that the Texas family had everything they needed, especially after Wyatt’s dad and brothers had to return home for work and school.
Back in North Dakota, Wyatt remained in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for weeks as his little body achieved the milestones that normally would have occurred in utero. Thanks to medical technology, preterm babies are able to survive outside the womb earlier than ever before. In fact, babies born as early as Wyatt have a very good chance of survival if modern treatments are available to them. Specialists believed Wyatt might be in the NICU until April, but the baby, whose name means “warrior,” developed quickly and gained his strength to come back home to Texas much earlier than anticipated.
Crystal told the local NBC affiliate that North Dakota will always have a special place in her family’s heart. The silver lining of the ordeal, for Crystal, is to be able to help and inspire others going through difficulties. “I want to let other parents know there always is someone out there that can help you; night or day,” she said. “And if my story touches you, or Wyatt’s story gives you hope, then great. And I will be there to help you.”